Gaia
by Crispina
Summary: After Terra heroically saves the city, her twin sister comes desperate to find her. She encounters the Teen Titans instead. How do you tell someone with no home that their only family is imprisoned in stone? Try giving them a home first.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Teen Titans.**

A/N I don't really have any experiance writing, so if you want something great, this likely won't be it.

—

Chapter 1: An Unlikely Encounter

A flash of light catches Beast Boy's eyes in the early twilight hour. He swoops to the ground, changing back to land on his feet. He pulls out his communicator.

"Guys? I found him."

Today's criminal failed to notice or hear Beast Boy, and proceeded to fire his lasers at a random building. Deep gorges appear along the front of the deserted building with some light rubble clattering to the ground.

Dr. Light shouts to empty air. "See? Light can destroy. Electromagnetic radiation increases the motion of surrounding molecules, and at high enough levels, melting will occur. This will show the cronies and _Mathew_ it isn't 'some sci-fi nonsense'". The name is said with pure venom.

Robin asks, "What is your location?"

"I'm in front of the West Side Mall. The one with the parking lot across the street."

While Beast Boy was reporting his location, Dr. Light laughs manically and yells, "I am a real villain, and I will be respected for once!" He is still completely oblivious to BB's presence.

"Is that Dr. Light?" Raven sounds slightly pleased.

"Yeah, the Skinny Dude has a few lightbulbs loose."

Beast Boy watches the criminal in question fire another, more concentrated blast at the building resulting in a large chunk of the building to fall away from where anyone is located. The impact only shacks the ground starting an annoying concert of car alarms in the mall's full parking lot.

Robin's voice comes back on. "In that case just stay there, and wait for the team. We'll be there in a few minutes."

Dr. Light walks away from Beast Boy and the mall, tearing up the road with his lasers as he goes.

Beast Boy puts his communicator away. _Like I'm doing that._

A rumbling begins, distracting him, and Beast Boy makes the mistake of walking towards it. The noise rapidly grows louder. _It is coming from the mall._

The doors burst open. Hands knock him down. The next thing he knows, he is hiding in a turtle shell safe from the stampeding feet.

Eventually, the chaos, the screams, and the kicks to the turtle shell pass. Only a few people trickle by. Judging it safe, he turns back. That is when a kick lands right in his gut. _Not safe._

"Ooo, I'm sorry. Come on you have to get up. The second floor will be here soon, and you don't want to be here when the next wave begins." Beast Boy winces in pain as he sits up to see a hand in front of his face. The hand is attached to a girl who happens to have familiar yellow hair and blue eyes. "Are you going to take my head or not?" He grabs her hand. The girl hoists him up. _It can't be..._

"How...?"

She smiles. "I kind of tripped over you. Your ribs can't be feeling great. Sorry again about that." _It is her._ The no longer mysterious rumbling starts back up. "Shit. Run, and run diagonally to-" The remaining words were lost to the mob as was Terra.

 _No, not again._

Hope flared painfully. It didn't matter to him how she appeared as long as she didn't leave again. He pushed his way through the mob to the side she likely escaped from. _Please let her be here._ Beast Boy scans the street. _There!_

"Terra!"

He feels pure joy, when Terra pauses and briefly turns back to face him. _It is definitely her! Why else would she turn back at the sound of her name?_

She then runs not towards but away from him. Part of his heart shatters as she turns down a alley and out of his sight. A demoralized and confused Beast Boy follows his first love.

The alley holds no sign of her only part of the large chunk of rubble that set off the car alarms earlier. _No_.

"Terra?"

Out of nowhere, she tackles him, slamming his back to the wall. For a second he waits for her arms to wrap around him, but they didn't. Instead cold metal is against his throat, and the other arm presses him to the wall. Their faces are mere inches apart. _Just like with our almost kiss._ Heat floods his cheeks, yet it all drains away with her next words.

"Who are you, and how do you know my name?"

— —


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Teen Titans.**

 **—**

Chaper 2 Too Many Questions

She must have hid behind the rubble, waiting for him to walk by to spring.

"Dude, what is your deal?!" His anger doesn't even phase her. Terra would normally at least flinch if not apologize at his words.

She only repeats herself. "How do you know my name?" She more like Raven than the Terra he knew. He needs a plan which has never been his forte.

He swallows and feels the knife against his throat. "Uh, could you lose the knife?" Wait, she is like Raven. How do you deal with an angry Raven?

The knife stays put. "Just answer the question."

Beast Boy's thoughts wonder back to Dr. Light. Beg for mercy, and hope someone kinder saves him. Dr. Light triggered Raven's temper, getting him dragged under her cape. It was the one time Raven really lost control of her anger. The poor guy pleaded for his life, which either got ignored or encouraged Raven on. Raven would have done much worse, if Robin hadn't intervened. The incident traumatized the villain, and if today's any indication, he still hasn't completely gotten over it. _Well, so much for a plan._

Beast Boy turns back to the present, "What was the question again?"

She starts repeating the question at an insultingly slow pace. "How do you know my name?"

His jaw hurts from clenching it. "Hello? You told me it. Don't you remember?" Confusion cracks her mask. "Or not?" Now he is confused.

Realization lights up her face, and he waits to hear what she uncovered.

She shoots him a warm smile. "Okay, just three more questions, and you are free to go." Apparently, she wasn't sharing her discovery.

Her enthusiasms wasn't contagious. "Gee, thanks."

"Are you absolutely sure you've seen me before?"

"I don't know. Maybe that's why I called your name in the first place." Beast Boy yells the last part in her face, but since she is already so close to him, it is impossible yell not in her face.

She shrugs. "I'm just making sure." He glares at her. "Next question do I seem like a different person than before?"

"Well, you didn't attack your best friend for just trying to get your attention."

She gleefully smiles at that and then frowns. "Best friend?" _Finally, something gets under her skin._

"The last time I saw you, you said I was your best friend. That is three questions. NOW LET ME GO-"

She interrupts him. "Ow, you knew some of us can't afford a hearing aid. Besides, that doesn't count as a question. It was an escaped thought that just sort of sounded like one."

Beast Boy takes a deep breath, preparing to yell again. She rolls her eyes, but lowers the hand with the knife. A forearm still pegs him to the wall, but with less strength than before. He might be able to escape.

"We both want answers. I'll give you something that will answer yours in enchange. Now please, where was I planning on go the time I told you were my best friend?" _The last time I saw her._ Something in the way she say it makes her seem like her old self. He doesn't want to say. _It will shatter the spell._

"I..." don't know what to say.

It turns out they aren't alone anymore.

"Aw, looks like someone got a girlfriend," says Cyborg. What?

Robin orders, "BB, now!" That is something Beast Boy understands. _Time to escape._

He turns into a mouse and scampers away as Robin kicks Terra, knocking her to ground. Beast Boy turns back once he reaches his friends. Robin steps on the fallen weapon.

Cyborg looks bewildered. "They were just kissing... weren't they?!"

"You thought I was kissing her!?" _How could he think that!?_

Raven looks Cyborg. "You didn't see the knife." Cyborg shakes his head.

Starfire asks, "Knife?"

"This one. Didn't your mom ever tell you not to play with them? " Robin picks up and holds out the confiscated item.

Starfire use a starbolt to provide light to see it more clearly. _That's it?_ With only a two or three inches to the blade, the weapon is more of a pocket knife than something found in a kitchen.

Starfire asks, "Cyborg, can you please turn on your lights?"

"Sure, Star," he replies. The light blinds for a few moments.

Starfire then stars checking Beast Boy for injures. "You appear to be uninjured, yet you do not look well. What is 'the matter,' Beast Boy?"

Beast Boy turns away from her. "I'm fine," he guiltily lies to keep Starfire from worrying and to avoid anymore conversation on the matter. She frowns not buying the lie anyway.

Before Starfire can inquire further, Robin draws everyone's attention. "You need to see this." The four move to stand next to their leader. Under the bright light focused on her, the girl quickly gets to her feet and meets their stares defiantly.

Starfire gasps with her hands over her mouth. "Terra?"

"How is this even possible?" Raven asked skeptically.

No one knows, and no one answers.

Robin moves on and demands, "Why did you attack Beast Boy?"

Terra doesn't back down. "A strange stalker knew my name and chased me down an alley."

Raven looks at him. "Stalker? That would be a new low for you."

Terra continues, " I wanted to know why he knew me, while I've never even seen him before today."

That gets to Beast Boy. "You could've just asked like a normal person!" Beast Boy turns to his friends. "She doesn't remember anything."

"Clearly," replies Raven.

The girl shifts uncomfortably. "I thought you might have been a bounty hunter, and it is better to be safe than sorry."

Robin asks, "Bounty hunters?"

"It is a long story. Anyway, his actions pointed to him being a stalker of some sort." Could she quit calling me that?

"Stalker?" Cyborg tease him.

Beast Boy was fed up. "She doesn't remember us, okay? I'm going back to the tower." He turns his back to go, when a hand grabs his.

"Wait, will you please answer my last question?" It feels like the two of them are alone again, and Terra seemed like Terra again. "You'll never have to see me again." The promise both appeals and horrifies him.

He considers for a second. "Nowhere." Beast Boy didn't want to say "to sacrifice yourself." Plus, it was true. Terra decided to stay in the impending disaster to save the city. _Okay, maybe only half true._ If there was one thing Terra valued, it was trust, and that lie breached it. However, he still couldn't tell her the whole truth.

Beast focus returns when Starfire whisper, "What was the question?" The others shrug. They all want to see how things would play out in the Beast Boy and Terra show.

The Terra looks crestfallen. "Oh. Um, thank you." She takes off her backpack and digs through her stuff, careful to hide the bag from view.

"Uh, don't mention it?"

She finds whatever she searched for and holds it behind her back. "If you ever see 'your Terra' again, tell her I'm sorry."

Beast Boy is lost. "You're apologizing to yourself?"

The others tense up when she moves her hands out from behind her back, revealing a well worn envelope full of zig zagging creases.

She gives the envelope to him. "Look at it later, okay?" She smiles sadly at him. He understands the meaning instantly. Goodbye and I'm sorry.

Starfire understands it too. "Friend, you just came back. Please do not go yet."

Robin places a hand on her shoulder, trying to comfort her. "Star, she doesn't remember us."

Starfire turns on Robin clearly not pleased with his reply. "Then she can make new memories!"

Terra speaks up, "I'm sorry, but I've never been your friend."

Stunned, they watch Terra walk away and out of sight.

"That was interesting," Raven commented.

Concerned Cyborg asks, "Starfire, are you okay?"

"No! How could she say such things? We are friends even if she did betray us." Starfire challenges anyone to contradict her. They know better.

Beast Boy figures now counts as later and opens the envelope. Inside is a photo dated five years ago on the back. He flips the photo over and sees two younger "Terras" smiling with dozens of Christmas gifts surrounding them. "Guys? You might want to see this." He holds out the photo for them.

Robin says, "That wasn't the Terra we knew."

Raven finishes, "That was her identical twin."

"But why are they both 'Terra'? Is it a Earth custom to name identical people the same thing? And why did our friend never mention having a sister?" Starfire squeezes all the words in one breathe.

Robin steps up and tries to answer Starfire's multiple question. "No, it isn't a custom. One of them must have impersonated the other, and 'having a sister' probably just didn't come up."

"So what now? She deserves to know what happened to her sister," states Cyborg.

Rain starts to fall. "Now we go home, and figure everything out. I have an idea," says Robin.

— — — — — — — —

It was a long night.

After returning the the tower, there was much debating. It centered on the state of Terra's condition, what to do with her twin, and Robin's plan involving the first two issues.

The plan was to have the potentially dangerous sister stay at the tower, Raven and Cyborg would try everything one last time to save their friend Terra, and have the Titans try to become friends with the sister, so that when (or if) she knew of her sister's fate, she would have friends to turn to.

The plan contained more than a few holes. The whole thing could easily blow up in their faces. Raven surprised everyone by being the first to switch sides. Once Raven joined Robin, it was only a matter of time before each of the remaining titans agreed to go along with the plan with various degrees of enthusiasm.

Starting tomorrow, Robin would watch the city cameras till the sister passed one, and then the plan would be set in motion.

— — — — — —


	3. Chapter 3

Disclamer: I do not own the Teen Titans.

Chapter 3: To the Library

— —- — — —

"Attention."

Just five more minutes...

"The library will be closing in a half hour. We ask that you please conclude your business and leave the building before closing time. Our hours are from 5AM to 12PM Monday to Thursday and 8AM to 9PM Friday to Sunday. Again, the library will be closing in thirty minutes."

Eleven thirty minus 9:12 equals three hours and 18 minutes. I groan. Three hours may pass for a nap but it falls short of achieving a good night's sleep. The luxurious, 30 year old armchair begs me to stay just a little longer, promising safety and warmth. It is tempting to stay here till someone drags me out. But then again, someones always mean lies and/or trouble (lesson 83). After today, I'd love a week with not having to deal with either, so I sigh and get up, knowing sleep will have to wait till morning. Sunlight always makes it easier to find a safe location to let your guard down and rest (lesson 24). At least there would be time to figure things out later.

Right now, only a handful of students remain on the third floor of the college library. One frantically types at a computer with an energy drink at hand. Many more cans lay on their sides by his feet. A pair of young women trade gossip over their books and homework. A few tables down, another drolls over his.

I walk past them to the bathroom. Empty bathrooms present the ideal place to keep up on hygiene and do laundry (16).

After the "library is closing in 15 minutes" announcement, I walk out with wet hair smelling like the hand soap from the dispensers, coincidently enough.

The exit near the bathroom turns out to tigger the fire alarms if used, so I head for the stairs on the other side, freezing when a voice inquires, "Hey, why is your hair wet?" The gossip girls stare the offending locks. "When you passed earlier, it was dry," inquires the nosy brunette.

I pasted on an embarrassed smile, "We got a new water heater, and Daddy refuses fo hire a plumber, so we currently don't have running water." "Daddy" gets new water heaters a few times a month.

Pity crosses their faces. Pity always crosses their faces.

"A water pipe bursted last winter at my house," offers the nosy brunette's friend offers. "Thankfully, Ellie," she gestures at the brunette, "let me take showers at her place."

"You know you like rather young to be in college," comments Ellie.

"Running start," I reply, trying not to sound annoyed.

The friend finishes packing her stuff. "It's late. Why don't we walk you back?"

An echo of fear settles in my stomach. "No thank you. My dad's waiting for me. I should go."

They both get to their feet anyway.

"Ellie and I are leaving too. You shouldn't be walking around alone at night," insisted the friend.

Couldn't they just mind their own business? If they saw no car waiting, they would gently demand to wait for someone who will never show up. I need to lose them here.

"Well... Dad loves to meet people. He would keep you for a good twenty minutes, and he desperately needs a shower." I wrinkle my nose. "Please let me save you from that fate. It is a short walk. I'll be fine."

The friend looks down. "Okay, I'm sorry for being so adamant."

"It's fine. See ya around."

I speed out of there.

It feels like eyes follow me in the night, but turning around reveals no one.

—. — — — — — — — —

I collect earthworms on the way to the dock. It is easy to find the ocean just go downhill the same way that the rain water travels. Earthworms scrim on the concrete as refugees from their flooded homes. After the rain clears away, most will dry up in the sun or end up as bird chow unable to return to the earth. My sister persistently rescued the worms when we were kids. Nothing anyone said stopped her. Now, I call them "poor man's bait."

I find a deserted dock, with an old boat storage house, empty boat slips, and lamppost softly glowing. They must have forgotten to cancel the electricity. A line sails over the water with a final plop.

Yes, fishing out here is foolish, dangerous in multiple ways, and even a compatible fishing rod takes up space, but the chance of catching an identifiable and edible fish is alluring, and nothing quite beats fishing.

My jeans soak in the cold and wet from the deck, but in return, I absorb in the the calmness of the scene. The waves crash against the deck poles under my dangling feet. City lights sparkle in place of stars. Rain droplets splatter against my plastic parka.

Sara, where did you go?

The words of the green Martian boy come back, "nowhere." She must have ran away again. Judging by how shocked they were to see me, they must believe she won't return. Maybe things didn't end well when she left, yet the whys don't matter. Only the two wheres do.

Where do I look now?

Two years of searching and just two clues. At an amusement park, I overheard a couple of ice cream shop employs talking about an earthquake swallowing a ferris wheel, Sara's favorite ride. The second clue consisted of the conversation with the little green alien. Both simply prove that she was here.

Ugh, cellphones would be great. A lot of things would be great like new clothes and real food not shoplifted or bought with stolen money. Honestly, she wouldn't answer hers anyway. If I ever find her again, her shoes will be replaced with rocks to match the ones in her head. That should keep her from running off again. Due to one stupid fight, we may never see each other again. Okay, it was one fight of many. If only she would listen...

I could go back and ask them, if they have any idea on where'd she go, but they probably already searched them. After all, Sara is BFF with the green guy. He didn't even know her name!

Why would Sara even take my name? It doesn't make sense. I always used fake names with strangers, but Sara didn't. She wouldn't budge on the matter or hardly any matter. Stupid hard-headed sister.

Something tugs on the line. Salmon or trout cooked over a fire comes to mind. My mouth waters. I reach for my knife to cut the cord incase of something like a sting ray, realizing Spiky took it. The potential dinner resists, and when it breaks the surface, I know why. It is a clump of non- water dynamic seaweed. Yum!

I set the fishing rod securely the dock, dig out scissors from my pack, and begin dismantle the clump of seaweed. In the glow of the lamp, a shape moves a top the waves, catching my eyes. The world comes into complete focus as fight or flight kicks in. Fear is the hardest emotion to suppress, and I have galeophobia. The tangle of seaweed falls to the seemingly rocking deck.

I fall in.

Shear terror takes over. My arms and legs thrash propelling my head to the surface of the dark water. Sharks hunt during the night. Pain radiates through my hand. Reflexes pull it to my chest. It hit... drift wood... The object that started this whole mess was driftwood. Unwarranted relief surges through me, and then I notice that my hand stings worse.

Blood. It must have gotten cut. Blood draws sharks.

Stop! Calm down! Things will get worse, if you don't calm down. Swim to shore, and focus only on that. Somehow, the fear retreats to a safe echo, and no shark takes a bite as I reach shore.

On wobbly legs I go back for my backpack to observe it floating a little ways from where I fell. The instantly inflatable, life pressers keep it floating. They recalled the packs due a small design flaw: The life pressers came out the bottom of the backpack and caused the wearer to be stuck floating bottom first. The system, that only scared 121 people before recall, saves almost everything a homeless girl owns.

One of those really long poles with a loop at the end sits on hooks outside the tiny boat storage house. With it I herd the backpack to shore, praying today doesn't happen to be Friday.

— — — — — — — — — — —

Early Thursday morning a trail of wet puddles steadily evaporates leading from the library side door to the bathrooms. The paper towel dispensers will need to be refilled soon. In a private study room, paper towels and belongs lay strategically out of view from glances through any of the windows. The morning passersby simply see a pile of books and a wet girl sleeping. An afternoon passerby sees something different. She spots a familiar running start student.

I hear the door open and wake.

Ellie's friend, the blond, stares at my things on the paper towel nest before returning her gaze to their owner. It can't paint a pretty picture.

"I tripped and fell into the fountain," I explain.

She nods slowly and goes back to studying my private treasures. The lighter in a plastic bag appears to be especially fascinating for her.

At the same speed as the nod, she asks, "I'll be right back. Can you please stay here and wait for me?"

I don't make eye contact her either. "Yes."

She backs out of the room, latching the door behind her. Through the window, I watch her pull out cellphone.

Mental alarms ring. It is time to go.

I shove a still damp sleeping bag, clothes with warped tags, water bottle, peanut butter, can of green beans, granola bars, gloves, scarf, pencil, notebook, and plastic parka into a stiff backpack. A few residual towel come with the objects. The many plastic bags require more care. Miraculously, everything fits. The ruined library books and flashlight stay behind with the paper towel mess.

Packing took too long. I spy Ellie's friend near the front entrance, talking to two police officers and gesturing to the study room. They turn my way.

Lesson 83: Someones always mean lies and trouble.

I walk away towards the back, resisting the urge to run for three seconds. By not running I hope it will take the officers at least that long to realize they need to chase after. It might be longer, if they ask for confrontation ("Is that her?"). Running would immediately pin a target. They are stronger and faster. In a race they'll catch up and escape won't happen. They could use a stun gun. My singular advantage is distances, and every step helps.

I bolt at three.

An authoritative "stop" barley registers over heavy footfalls. I scan for a way to turn tag into hide and disappear. I don't get the chance to. A hand latches on. Game over. The future flashes through my eyes. It starts with a trip to a police station and ends with many foster homes, frequently running away, probably counseling, going back to school, and tons of lies and trouble, for telling the truth would led to more trouble and zero freedom. All of my dreams of finding Sara shatter, and fear claws back up. Fear of that fear creates a downward spiral that refuse to halt. The ground vibrates, knocking the officer and me down. Voices ring out:

"It is another earthquake!"

"No, it's an aftershock."

"Get down."

People crawl under tables in the nearby study area.

"Everyone drop and take cover," orders the officer three feet away.

Wait, his grip is gone. I stand and run, and he realizes too late.

"Hey you, get back here! It is too dangerous to move around," he calls out.

The shaking stops. I don't.

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

A/N

If you have any questions or something feels off, please review or private message. Also, reviews in general are welcome.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclamer: I do not own the Teen Titans.**

— — — —

With no direction but away, my steps fall in the path of least resistance. Sirens wail in various directions and distance like they wailed this morning. A few ambulances, police cars, and fire trucks sail past.

The emergency department will stay busy for the next day. Even if the disaster causes small scale damage, and this one did, survivors require medical treatment, fires start, and crime rates surge. Natural disasters bring out the best and worst in people. Ordinary civilians turn into heroes, who help others in anyway they can, or criminals, who take advantage of the chaos for their own benefit. For some it becomes a story to share. For others it remains a memory to forget.

I end up back at the dock. The stolen fishing pole lays untouched with the seaweed still attached to the hook. After the drift wood incident, only two options exist: pick up the pole and fish right now or never fish again. The form choice won out.

I make sure to sit in the middle of the dock as far from either side as possible. The stubborn clump of seaweed eventually comes undone and is returned to the ocean. I cast a line out. The emotions threatening to spill over slowly dissipate.

Honestly, most days nothing remotely note worthy happens. Getting a tick bite, arriving in a new city, finding a sandwich resting on top of a dumpster heap still in a wrapper that is my normal type of interesting. They bare no rebalance to yesterday or today. There must be something fundamentally strange with this city. Since Sara isn't here, it is time to leave this place anyway. Maybe she'll be in Arizona. She loves the desert. I sigh and reel in. I doubt I'll ever find her, but giving up is too hard, costs too much.

Planks creak, and shadows move up the deck. Maybe if I ignore them, they'll leave.

"Illegally fishing?"

Apparently not, that would be too easy. I pause in folding my fishing rod to spy Sara's five friends blocking off the one non-watery escape route. This city is officially cursed.

Spiky must have spoken. His arms are crossed, and even with the mask, anyone could feel his glare. It appears I'll have to irritate them enough to get them to leave. Spiky won't require much of a push.

I yawn and finish stowing the fishing pole. "Does it count if nothing is caught?"

"But something was caught: you red handed," Spiky fires back smugly. If yesterday's driftwood incident never occurred, he get shoved in the water, right about now.

"'Innocent till proven guilty,'" I quote sickly sweet. "I was just admiring my fishing pole near the ocean."

Ice Queen roll hers eyes.

"Just like you were admiring that knife close to my throat," Alien Boy joined in, waving his arms around. They certainly have the strangest clothes. They must form a band of some kind.

I give Alien Boy a huge smile. "You're catching on!" He doesn't step forward, like I expect, but gazes at me with pity. "Please just go away," I mentally plead. Somehow, Alien Boy picks it up, because he asks a silent why.

"Enough," snaps the Ice Queen. "We saw you fishing. She is a liar and a criminal. Are you sure about this?" What exactly do they want?

Spiky answers, "Not entirely, but she is Tara's sister."

"Wrong, 'she' is Tara, and your Tara is Tara's sister." Ironically, the truth creates another tally under liar.

Robot Man questions Spiky, "Wait, if you're not sure about it, then why even do it?"

"She is Tara's sister," Spiky repeats with more meaning than the first time, meaning that I don't understand, although Robot Man gets it and lowers his gaze. It is like they owe Sara something, and whatever they have in mind repays it. I wonder what kind of relationship exited between them and Sara.

"I guess we should introduce ourselves then, unless you already know our names," props Robot Man, expecting me to already know their names. They probably won't appreciate the new nicknames, so he continues the introductions, pausing to see if any of them ring a bell. They don't. The Teen Titans might be a famous band, but I can't even keep up with days of the week let alone celebrities.

I stand up. "Call me whatever you want. It doesn't matter. I'm leaving the city today to continue hunting for my identity thief."

Alien Boy or Beast Boy asks, "Uh, who?"

"Sara," I inform him. Realizing that they wouldn't know her by that name, I add on, "My sister or your Tara. It was nice to meet you all, but I have to go."

I dart past them, using the gap between the red haired teen, Starfire, and the edge of the dock.

Spiky- Robin offers, "Actually, why don't you stay with us for awhile?" The ridiculous idea stuns me.

I take the bait. "Why?" Why would they want me to, and why would I want to?

"Well for one, you wouldn't have to illegally fish for food," points out Cyborg (Robot Man).

"Why would you want me to?"

That throws them. After a few moments, Starfire speaks up, "We would enjoy the 'getting to know you better'?" She sounds unsure of either her English or the validity of the statement probably the latter.

I shake my head no. "You don't understand. I have to find my sister. She has... accidents, and someone needs be there to help her." She does lose complete control, and every time, it tears a part of her away. She never saw it that way. Each failure motivated her to jump into more situations where she'd have more accidents. I'd try to keep her together, but pieces still fell away. Mom or Dad could've done more.

They share a look, and Raven answers, "later."

"We're your best shot at finding her," Cyborg remarks.

They might be my only one. "Okay."

— — — — —


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Teen Titans**

 _Anyone who started reading this before 7/15:_ _none of the chapter have been changed. If they ever are all changes will be noted at the top of the newest chapter in italics._

— Chapter 5: Titan Tower Part 1 — — — — — — — — — —

"Two weeks," and with that the glaring contest begins.

"No way, one week." The mask should automatically disqualify him.

"This isn't negotiable." Unfortunately for me, the judges like their leader more than an argumentative stranger.

"Eight days or I walk." Please let this buff work.

Two weeks was too risky. By the end of it, we may learn to tolerate one another.

"Go ahead, but that won't help you find your sister." He did not only call it. He played the stupid trump card.

"Whose to say the information you have won't lead to another dead end? Beast Boy said she had no plans to go anywhere. Sara ran away, and you know no more about her current location than I do."

"Not quite, if you want to know more, then stay here for two weeks."

I blink, and he knows he won.

Mistakes were made earlier involving the dock, Robin, and a hard shove. It could have washed off some of his smug confidence.

I also regretted asking him about how long the stay at Titan's Tower needed to be. Just spending a night here counts as staying, and when morning came, it'd be _their_ failure of forgetting to specify not mine.

There were certainty worse places to stay. The furniture and appliances in the kitchen and living room seemed new and high quality. Windows dominate the front of the "T" shaped building. On the way here, I asked about achieving such a shape, and Cyborg's scientific explanation inflicted head pain. The place must cost a fortune that the five teen's parents can spare. Who are they, and why take Sara off the streets to start with?

Cyborg notices me study the room. "We got a guest bedroom made up. I think you'll like it here."

"We can bond over the painting of nails, the telling of secrets, and the watching of romance movies made of cheese."

No one offers an explanation or asks about Starfire's "movies made of cheese."

"Have you guys forgotten that she held a knife to my throat?! How do you know she won't try someone thing when we are all sleep."

"Above your door handle, there is a lock. Use it," Raven informs Beast Boy.

Cyborg says, "There is still the security system." The five teens share a knowing look that I am not privy to. "It is possible to disable the door locks from the m- outside our rooms."

Not that they need to worry about that. I know little about computers. Sara was the one who knew how to but _wouldn't_ have disabled someone's alarm system. After "the flu", I still remain think it was mild food poisoning from tocos del dumpster, I tried to convince Sara to disable a small mansion's security system to let us steal money for food. She flat out refused even with the Robin Hood spin on it.

"You could just tell me what you know now and save yourselves the worry," I offer.

The idea failed to even warrant a response.

Robin turned to face Cyborg. "Can you come up with something have that might keep our guest out of trouble."

"I have just the thing."

— — — — — — — — — — — — —

A/N

Special thanks to Althea Sirius for beta reading! (:

Also, Tara is the oc (eventually called Gaia). Terra is Terra from the actual TT. Both names are pronounced the same way. From Beast Boy's perspective Tara's name is Terra, and from Tara's perspective her sister took her name including the spelling. They don't know any better.


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer** : **I do not own the Teen Titans.**

— Chapter 6: Titan Tower Part 2 — — — — — — — — — —

Cyborg returned with a shiny green band big enough to wear at the waist. His solution happened to be a custom shock collar with automatic size readjustment.

Some self preservation instinct kicked in, when our eyes met, and he quickly launched into an explanation of how the technology behind the collar already contained the necessary framework. With a few tweaks, changing the collar to an bracelet for each hand, and reconfiguring the response, they'd prevent me touching any of the tower's tech and out of most rooms. Instead of sending a jolt of electricity, a strong electromagnetic field would repel the cuffs as though two magnets with same polarity came near each other.

The invisible fence would become an invisible wall.

Starfire jesters to the band in Cyborg's hands. "Why did you build a collar of shocking?"

Cyborg sets the object down. "It was... for Silkie to, you know, keep him from eating everything in sight again. I'll have to adjust it so the wearer can enter the guest room instead of Star's."

"You choose dark green for _Silkie_ ," says Raven. Her gaze follows Beast Boy who picks up the discarded item and studies it, until the collar shrinks onto his hand.

"It brings out Silkie's eyes," replies Cyborg.

Startled by the cuff, Beast Boy waves his arm around and tries tugging it off. When neither method work, I find out the reason behind Beast Boy's name.

Beast Boy turned into an octopus.

He somehow becames an octopus that still can't get the collar off.

A smaller sized cuff now wrapped around a tip of a tentacle despite the efforts of the octopus.

Cyborg adds more subdued, " BB, if you hold still for a second, I can get it off."

Beast Boy becomes human again and holds out his hand.

"How did you do that?!"

Cyborg presses his right thumb against the cuff. Both glow, before the collar returns to its original size and owner.

Beast Boy rubs his irritated wrist. "I can transform into animals."

I stare at him in awe. "You have super powers."

He shrugs not caring to elaborate. Starfire, Cyborg, Robin, and Raven fill me in on their abilities and the whole saving the city on a regular basis.

Robin smirks amused. "Wait, if you didn't know we were heroes, what you did you think we were?"

There is no good answer.

"A famous band."

Once the group's laughter and smiles fade away, Raven lowers her hood. "Your sister demonstrated the ability to control earth. Do you have similar powers?"

"No, I don't."

The words ring true, and no one presses farther.

With matters settled the room quickly clears out. Robin has to take care of some things, Cyborg needs to work on the cuffs, and Raven wishes to return to her book in the peace of her room. When Starfire opens her mouth, Beast Boy blurts the he needs to clean his room, careful not to so much as glance my way.

Guard duty falls to Starfire, who can more than keep me out of trouble with her super strength.

She walks behind the kitchen island. "Would you care for some food? I believe food from meals past still reside in the fridge."

I give her enthusiastic yes and vowed to eat as much as possible. Compared to my usual diet of fruit, granola bars, peanut butter, jerky, and crackers leftover pizza and burgers taste heavenly. Starfire promised to cook some Tamaranean food tomorrow, and I would gladly have a freshly cooked meal join the leftovers. That is if the leftovers had stayed stomach rebelled against the amount of rich food, and Starfire kindly ushered me to their bathroom.

She pointed out the location of their rooms incase I need anything and showed me to the guest bedroom a neutral room without the hint of any rainbow colors leaving only shades of brown, gray, black, and white.

"After your sister stayed here, it become clear a room for visitors was required. We did not know for whom the room would be used by. I hope it is suitable."

Sadness tinges her words, and her suddenly more distant attitude makes little sense. I manage to thank Starfire and apologize again for wasting all of that food, before she slips away.

As tempting as the bed looked, it was too clean for me to climb in.

I headed back to the bathroom and enjoyed my first real shower in years.

Outside the bathroom dressed in damp clothes, I retie a towel around my hair. My new bracelets clank together. I found them outside the bathroom door and slid them on. Childishly burning what little faith they had in me would not make things better, and the fact that Cyborg trusted me enough to put them on and not throw them out a window proves that at least some trust exists.

Beast Boy appears behind a precarious tower of cleaning supplies. "I just had to get bathroom duty this week."

I watch him walk in and somehow peer past his mound.

"It's clean!" There is no denying the disbelieve in his voice.

"Just how dirty did you think I was?"

He mumbles something about a mud bath. It must distract him for the tower loses any stability and crashes to the floor.

"Look what you made me do." He gestures to the cleaning supplies everywhere. When we make eye contact, his expression changes, and he drops his gaze too.

"I didn't make you do anything. If you want to blame me, you can clean it up yourself."

He mumbles a sorry, and we gather the supplies. The third time the towel's knot comes undone, I tug the towel off and start pilling cleaning supplies on top of it. Beast Boy notices and shovels his half of the cleaning collection onto the towel. We each lift a side of the towel, and Beast Boy leads the way to a closet. Some heavy duty acid cleaners already sit safely inside. I take it as a good sign he hadn't grabbed those to clean the bathroom.

Beast Boy puts the final item away. "Thanks."

I smile at him, which he misses, since the floors fascinates him so. He certainly likes holding grudges. Since I don't care to find out how long it will take for him to forgive, i say, "Sorry for the whole knife thing."

It fixes nothing.

The carpet even now wins his attention.

— — — — — — — — — — — — —


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Teen Titans.**

Chapter 7 Snoop and Kleptomaniac— — — — — — —

I take the scenic path to the guest room, lost to why Beast Boy's behavior bothers me. Chances were we would never see each other after this unless Sara wanted to.

I discover my old Christmas photo on the dresser and the lack of a backpack to return the photo to. The memories surface of stuffing one of multiple maroon towels and some pleasant smelling shampoo into my pack.

Outside the bathroom entrance, the contents of my pack yet again litter the ground. Beast Boy sits in the middle of it holding a hair clip.

"Beast Boy, why is my stuff all over the floor?"

"It isn't my fault. The backpack exploded."

"Sure it did."

"Tara owned a silver one of these."

"We got them from a rich relative. It is real gold." Beast Boy nearly drops the buttery clip. "Or so we thought. We tried to sell them, but the shady pawn broker claimed they were fakes."

He places the clip gingerly in the hair baggie. No doubt, the baggie self-destructed too.

A few things are restored to the backpack.

"Wait, you're actually looking at me." Apparently, the apology did work.

He folds back into himself, and it clicks.

I am an idiot.

"You have trouble looking at me and not seeing Sara."

"You are twins. How did you get new clothes?"Beast Boy says to change subjects.

He holds out the clothes I grabbed at the mall yesterday. The old ones, likely thrown away by a stuff member, boasted of more patched up holes than original seams.

"Shoplifted."

I decide to distract him with photos. Whole albums wrapped in a garbage are buried in our old flower bed. They weighed too much to justify taking them with us. Sara picked out some to go in my bag. She worried the cans of food in hers would crush them. At eleven years old and having our world turned upside down, we didn't reason well.

He kept eyeing the photo bag when he thought I wasn't paying attention.

He flips through photos of our parents at their wedding, a family photo at a carnival, Sara and Dad at a girl scouts' meeting, and another family photo of me earning a black belt.

I ask him if he owns any of his family, which sifts his demeanor from lighthearted to slightly broken like he did earlier.

"One, it's not here."

I ask the first thing that comes to mind to preoccupy him. "Can you guess who is who in the pictures?"

Beast Boy gets them all right. When I ask him how, he shrugs. "It isn't that hard to tell you apart any more. Tara is the good twin." His voice catches on "Tara".

"And I am the..?"

He grins good as new. "The evil one."

I throw the sleeping bag at him.

We have almost all the items returned to the backpack, then Beast Boy picks up a towel. I curse myself.

"Dude, this is _our_ towel!"

"Huh, how did that get there?"

"And my shampoo!"

— — — — — — —

A/N Special thanks to Althea Sirius for reading over this chapter.

Any feedback is more than welcome. It will help knowing what you think of things.


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Teen Titans**

Chapter 8: Second Chances— — — — — — — — — — — — —

A while after sunset, I kick Raven's door to avoid testing my new accessories. A irritated Raven opens the door wide enough for most of her body to block any curious glances. I can still spot a black celling and Halloween light fixtures, yet even that glimpse comes at a cost: her already bad mood sinks lower.

"What do you want?"

If I could ask for forgiveness instead of permission, I'd leave now to sneak in later.

"A book."

Her eyes widen a fraction of an inch. "You read?"

I can't help it. "No, they make great kindling."

Animosity comes off Raven in waves. "Burn my books, and I will burn your bag." It's more of a promise than a threat.

"So I can borrow some."

Raven closes the door behind her. I remain, unsure if she will comeback. She does with a single book held spine down.

"Spill so much as a drop on it..." She hands me the book, _Welcome to the Underworld_.

It becomes much harder to act unshaken.

A second passes for my cheerful bravado to resettle. "Thanks, and don't worry about it. I'll keep it safe. Scouts honor."

The door firmly slid back into place at the word "keep," leaving me alone to puzzle over the coincidence or lack there of between Raven's half finished sentence and the book's title. If the whole thing was intentional, then she could have meant the exchange as simply an ending to her sentence, or as something for me to worry over and by analyzing her intent so much, she has achieved her theoretical goal.

Next time I need something to do, I'm asking Starfire for drawing paper.

Back in the guest room, I curled up with the good book and read into the dead of night, despite an annoying urge to go talk to someone.

Moonlight provided enough light to stumble upon the living room. In ancient times moon cycles helped mark the passage of time. Native Hawaiians came up with a name for each individual moon, beyond the four or eight phases we use here today. Tonight, a nearly full moon called Kulu glows.

Towards the front of the living room rest an circular wall decoration split in half vertically. When the crack gets pushed inward a computer pops up. I slowly reach out to it, expecting to be yanked backwards by an invisible force. Nothing happens. The bracelets don't work.

The computer screen flickers on to a login in page. Thanks to a checkmark in the "remember me" box, the username reads "Robin1".

It takes five tries to guess Robin's password.

While the computer loads, hall lights come on. I close the computer and take in the total lack of hiding spots. The kitchen must have some, though Night Owl would see me walk there which defeats the purpose. That leaves the couch's shadow.

Night Owl hits the overhead light switch. Foot steps sound ever closer.

"You can come out. I know you're here."

If he does know, then he can find me himself.

Cyborg does exactly that.

"How did you know I was here?"

He taps his arm. "I got an alert from the bracelets. They pinged me your location."

They appeared to do nothing, and because of that I had falsely assumed they did nothing.

"A silent alarm. Then why did you say they would create a force field?"

"They do, if I can't respond, but I haven't gone to bed yet. Otherwise, you'd have felt the magnetic field." Something must give me away, because he adds, " _And_ I would have still received an alert." So much for trying again once Cyborh was asleep. "Now what I'd like to know is what you are doing up in the middle of the night messing with a computer that you aren't suppose to be anywhere near."

"What computer?" I ask innocently.

Cyborg goes straight to the computer and pushes it open. The desktop page greets his frowning face.

"Someone must have forgotten to log out."

Cyborg doesn't acknowledge that comment. "You logged in?! Do not tell me you hacked into _my_ security system!"

His fingers blur over the keyboard, and the screen displays strange writing similar to what Sara did to give us accesses to library computers. Sara claimed they were lines of code.

"I got Robin's password correct."

"Starfire?"

"Close. 'Starfire1'."

That gets a small smile out of Cyborg.

Honestly, a couple of first password guesses involved Raven. Opposites must attract more than birds of a feather.

Cyborg refolds the computer and plops down on the couch. "It looks like you only logged in."

I join him on the couch. "You should have given me five more minutes."

Goodbye smile. "And then?"

"I might have found where Sara went." A yawn escapes.

"Maybe Robin was right. You are almost as obsessed with finding your sister as Robin was with Slade."

"She my sister, and I originally came to here to see what the cuffs did."

"Now you know. It's 2am, and I have a lot if work to do." Cyborg adds more to himself, "Raven and I both do. Two weeks isn't nearly enough time."

That catches my attention. Unfortunately, silence fails to loosen his tongue farther.

He appears to have dozed off instead. So not wanting to wake him, if he sleeps, I ask quietly, "You and Raven are searching for my sister?"

He yawns and stretches. "I can't tell you. This is Robin's mess to clean up."

I cover up a yawn and hit my chin with a metal bracelet. If the pain didn't sting enough, the humiliation of someone witness to such a clumsy display added salt to the wound. While I wait for the pain to reach a tolerable level, Cyborg fetches a gratefully accepted ice bag.

"Cyborg, did you make the shock collar originally for Beast Boy?"

"Yeah. I did it to blow off some steam, after BB entered my room uninvited. He accidentally downloaded a virus into my systems recharge, which infected me and almost destroyed me and the city."

"And yet Beast Boy didn't wear the shock collar."

"I never put it on him, because he was the one who fixed me. "

"Moral of the story, as long as you fix your mistakes, the mistake never happened. That kind of sucks."

Cyborg shrugs. "Not every story has a moral. But if BB decides to do anything like that again, he won't get off so easy." Cyborg yawns again. "I am turning in. If no other alerts come in, I'll assume that all is a dream." My fellow conspirator blinks his one eye.

"Thank you."

"Thank me by staying away from my tech."

He disappears down the hall.

I don't know how long I sit there, wondering how far I would go for my sister.

— — — — — — — — — — — —

A/N I am sorry for late update. What did you think of the chapter? What do you think of the story so far? Feedback is welcome. Feel free to pm or review! (:


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I do not own the Teen Titans

Chapter 9 — Join us— — — — — — — — — — — — —

The first time an alarm went off, it convinced my still asleep brain that the tower was on fire.

Not even literally rolling out of bed could push away the sleep induced brain fog, although a lovely pale green bruise still decorates my hip.

Backpack on, I bolted to living room entrance to crash back into the floor. The floor and I didn't get along that day and neither did Raven and I, especially since I knocked her to the floor with me. Raven did make an excellent, if not angry, cushion, and her snarl to get off of her finally did wake me up.

I obeyed, and she accepted a hand up.

"Where is the fire?" I asked Raven.

Robin answered, "The power plant. It's Overdrive."

"What?"

Cyborg and Starfire waited by the kitchen counter.

"Who," Raven corrected me.

"A villain. Stay here. We'll be back soon." Robin takes in my pjs and bedhead. "Maybe get some more sleep."

And with that the heroes leave.

I turned to take Robin's suggestion and spotted Beast Boy. He hopped past trying to get his left shoe on.

"Yes, got it!" Beast Boy glanced around the room. "Uh, guys?"

"They just left."

"Not again." He takes off. "Hey guys, wait for me!"

With the whole tower to myself, I went to the guest room.

I have rarely left it since.

It will be better in the long run if we have as little to do with each other as possible and no attachments form. Unfortunately, it is also hard not to go out and soak up as much social interaction as possible, but I know loneliness well, and when it comes time for goodbyes, it will hurt less, if I don't get use to their company.

More alarms went off through out the following week from break ins, robberies, public destruction, and mass panic caused by hives, a cinderblock, Gumbo, Minus, Fang, and most recently ninjas. Starfire stops by to keep me updated, before they head out.

She also comes by with invites to meals. I feel bad that she worries more with each refusal. Cyborgs' and Beast Boy's invitations met the same fate as Starfire's. I turn them all down.

Cyborg and Beast Boy use to want to play video games or a game of their own creation called Sink Ball Battle Royale. The game involves a ball of Beast Boy's dirty socks and two teams of two. Somehow they were convinced that if I join, Raven would too, and no amount of arguing on the matter would change their minds.

One time after, I closed the door on a friendly request to play Space Monkeys 3, I overheard Beast Boy say, "It is like having a second Raven. She never leaves her room. Ow!"

Cyborg probably elbowed him, however, I can fight my own battles.

I snatched a pop can from the horde of food gathered under the bed, and slam the metal door with can, hard.

The sound rang out like a gong.

Beast Boys yelp of surprise was well worth it, despite despite the soda can bursting open to spray strawberry flavored pop on everything nearby.

Cyborg still offers the occasional invite, but Beast Boy stoped coming with him, which is fine with me.

Overall, it didn't take long to finish Raven's book.

I set it by her door, and shortly afterwards Raven comes and pounds on the guest door. Cold furry danced in her eyes. She wanted to know what I had done to her book. I wanted to know what I had done too.

She flipped open a page, and pointed to its folded corner. "Here."

"A dog ear? I didn't have a bookmark."

Raven left. The next time I ventured out of the guest room, a different book sat outside the door with a bunch of printer paper folded into long, thin sheets. On the top of one, she wrote, "Now you do."

Now whenever we bump into each other around the tower, we talk about books.

We trade books a few times a day, and Raven always provides a bunch of bookmarks, not that the paper goes to waste. Slightly wrinkled drawings have begun to take over the guest room walls.

— — — — — — — — — — —

Today marks the 8th day here. I leave the room to smuggle more pop in. Robin's uniform rest against the outside of the door with a mask included. I pick it up, and a note falls out.

"Join us."

I carry it back to Robin's room. The open door provides the perfect opportunity to peer inside.

The bedroom is disappointingly plain. The far wall displays some newspaper cuttings too far away to even make out the pictures. No personal possessions decorate the table surfaces. Most of his stuff probably hides in drawers, and I can't ruffle through them.

"Are you dressing up too?" Raven catches me off guard.

I stifle a laugh. She changed her usual robe for Robin's uniform.

"No, I am just here to return this. Do you remember _The Endless Night_?" She nods, so I continue, "What did you think of Blazes sacrifice at the end of the book?"

She reaches to the back collar of the outfit and realizes that Robin's clothes don't come with a hood. "He earned redemption through his sacrifice."

"Blaze shouldn't have earned redemption in a single, preventable act. He managed to save everyone, but no one needed to make that sort of sacrifice, if someone had made a different choice."

She starts reaching for her hood again to catch herself. Raven pulls down her hound the same way another person might cross their arms. It is a defensive habit, and the defensiveness seems out of place for a book conversation.

Raven says, "In hindsight. However, we can't foresee all the consequence of our actions."

Starfire finds us.

She wears Robin's clothes too. The shirt falls shorter on Starfire. "Greetings New Robin and Soon-to-be Robin."

"Actually, she doesn't want to wear Robin's costume," says Raven.

Starfire pins her attention to me, which allows a certain someone to escape. _Thank you, Raven. I can alway count on you._

"We are all dressed as Robin. Please come and join in the fun."

"No thanks. You have more than enough Robins."

"Please, we could use one more." Starfire looks for Raven, who long since deserted us, to agree with her.

"Maybe for Halloween," I say.

Cyborg's voice plays over the Robin walkie talkie, "Robins. Calling all Robins. Your pizza has arrived. This is Robin over and out."

Starfire holds out a gloved hand. "Please."

I shake my head and walk away.

— — — — — — — — — — — —

A couple hours later, someone knocks.

"Whatever your invitation is for, take it and go."

My patience for refusing invites or dealing with people in general ran out.

The knocking continues.

"Go away!"

Still more knocking.

I yank open the door. "You can take your invite, and-"

Robin, Robin stands outside. "I can take my invite, _and_?"

"Nothing."

"It is a good thing this is an order then. Meet me on the roof in ten."

I hold up my wrists. "Can't. I am afraid."

"You can go on the roof. I checked with Cyborg. The roof in ten."

"Yes, sir." I mock solute him.

— — — — — — — — — —

More knocking. I don't answer.

"Why didn't you come up to the roof?"

"We don't meet for another nine hours and 15 minutes, sir."

"I meant 10 minutes." Anger creeps into his voice.

"Oh, sorry, sir."

"Quit calling me 'sir'."

"Yes, ma'am"

A cry of frustration and a clunk. I picture him with his head against the door and two fists simultaneously hitting the door.

"We can talk out here, where everyone can hear us, or somewhere more private. Choose."

"Your sweetheart is going to be so jealous."

"Choose," he growls.

The intensity of anger in his voice reflects the level I wish I could safely feel right now. This thought drains my weak, shadow of anger away, leaving me exhausted.

I slide to the floor. "Somewhere more private."

"Fine, meet me on the roof at ten," Robin snaps.

"Ten minutes?"

"Ten AM. Any sooner, and I'd rather meet Kitty than you. And if you don't show up, I will gladly unscrew your door."

— — — — — — — — —

Ironically, Robin shows up a few minutes late.

He leans against the rail next to me. "It is pretty isn't it?"

"Stunning."

"Why won't you leave your room?"

"Guest room. Why do you care so much about what I do?" I don't expect him to answer.

"You remind me of myself. I became obsessed with capturing a villain called Slade. I crossed lines and pushed everyone away. My friends saved me from myself. You are doing the same thing to find your sister."

"I am strong enough to take care of myself."

"I thought the same thing, but the truth is no one is an island. So why do you isolate yourself?"

"It is easier to walk away from strangers than friends."

"Who said you have to walk away. This could be your home, a place for you to come back to."

"If I had a place like that, I'd give up looking for her." The words ring true, and that shocks both of us.

"We will not let you give up, I promise."

We stare at the ocean in silence.

Robin snorts. "We had so much trouble with your sister, because she was afraid we would turn her out. We have so with you, because you worry we would leave the door open for you."

"She was afraid you guys wouldn't accept her because of her powers?"

His evident disbelief answers for him.

I continue, "I caused that fear."

"What really happened between you two?"

I hold my hand out palm up. "That secret costs all you know about her paid this instant."

"Too high."

"Too high? You have to in four days anyway."

"I don't want to tell you, until you learn that you don't have to shoulder burdens alone." At my confused look, he adds, "Build friendships and trust."

"On top of secrets."

"They may need to be rebuilt, but at least you'll know how to do it."

Robin lets me think about it privately.

When I do come back down, Robin asks me to play video games, and I say, "Sounds fun."

— — — —

A/N The book titles in this and the pervious chapter are made up. If a book exists with the same title, Raven's books in this fan fiction were not based on them.

In case any if you are curious, the episode where everyone dressed up as Robin is called "The Quest". It is episode 1 season 4.


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I do not own the Teen Titans.

Chapter 10: Memory — — — — — —

I stay on the roof a bit longer, as an old, painful memory surfaces...

— — — — — — —

I check on the storekeeper. He faces away still talking on the phone, perfect.

I stuff jerky into my backpack, when screams cut through the afternoon. I take a deep breath, shove another jerky into my bag, and run outside. Beeps from the shoplifting alarms go off, followed by angry shouts to "get back here."

It doesn't take long for those noises to disappear, in the chaotic remains of a festival gone wrong. People scream and run away from a familiar vertex of wind and rock. A lone teenager stayed behind to film the disaster up close.

Yes, ignore the danger. The camera will protect you.

I snatch his camera and pocket the memory card. If footage of Sara's powers got out, which the teen undoubtedly plans to do for five minutes of fame, it wouldn't end well.

He grabs his camera and eyes the pockets that contains the memory chip. He can try to take the chip back, but he won't succeed.

"Hey, that's mine."

"Not anymore. Now get out of here."

"No way. I am not missing this."

Idiot. He is a total idiot. Well, it won't be my fault if he gets hurt.

"If you want to be a fool, you can be a useful one. Stand next to the mini tornado, and be ready to catch something."

He mumbles something under his breath about a stick and a bottom, yet he complies with the orders.

I run to the other side of the tornado and throw my backpack in a shut put spin style which basically means spin around in circles to pick up speed and release the bag.

The bag sails into the vertex to collide, stun, and move the source of tornado away from the shower of dust and rock that follow, as the vertex falls in on itself.

Across the debris, the teen lies on his back, groaning in pain with a blond girl wrapped in his arms.

"Are you okay?"

In reply he raises a hand with a single digit straight up.

I smile.

— — — — — —

We set up camp in silence.

It isn't until the fire burns that my sister speaks.

In a small voice she says, "It isn't what you think."

"Fine, what happened?" My anger causes a small shake in the ground.

She gets to her feet, tense and ready for a fight. "You're not even giving me a chance to explain."

"We have been over this a hundred times. Do not use your powers for anything. It only makes things worse." She had to stop using her powers. It was too dangerous.

"And we've been over this a hundred times. I don't want to suppress my powers and wait for them to explode like you do. I want to learn how to control my powers. I want to help people."

"How does an earthquake or a mini tornado help? In your attempts to play hero, I always end up saving you."

"I am not some scared little kid for you to take care of."

Thing was I did take care of her.

I did all the stealing, so she wouldn't have to, not that she appreciated it. She would sometimes say, "Stealing is wrong. Go dumpster dive with sharp objects, pests, and who knows what germs only to bring back food that looked safe but really had enough of said germs to cause food poisoning." Those might not be her exact words, but it was something like that.

When she lost control of her powers, I had to snap her out of it and drag her half-conscious body out of town.

Even before Mom and Dad died, I did things to take care of her. Things she won't ever know about. Things I don't want her know.

"You are a scared little girl, who needs someone to take care of you, yet you are under this disillusion you can be a hero. Your 'help' escalates a school grade bully problem, that affects a single kid, to a small scale natural disaster that impacts thousands including the kid you were trying to save, and I am sure that kid would thank you for your 'help'. Grow up, and live in the real world for once."

I realizes our eyes glow yellow with mostly contained power. The ground shakes and a deep crack in the earth draws a line between us.

She moves away. In a softer voice, she says, "It was an accident. I didn't mean for it to happen."

She never does, and we both know it.

She packs up her stuff and walks away.

Our fights often end with her leaving. She always comes back.

Hours pass, and the sun sets.

No Sara.

— — — —

A/N Next chapter will be in a day or two. This would be a bad way to end things right before Christmas.


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I do not own the Teen Titans.

A/N This chapter is for anyone who has ever raced on a rainbow road.

Chapter 11: Slip Up— — — — — —

Beast Boy slides off the couch and sinks to the floor. Tears run down his face. "Dude, that is your fourth win in a row."

Robin's ego visibly inflates. "Maybe you need to practice more."

Cyborg offers me his controller. "You're up. Do us all a favor and knock Robin off the track."

"I wish I could."

It would be so therapeutic to knock that smirk off Robin's face, and I need something therapeutic. My emotions, particularly frustration, barley fall in the safe range, because by some video game logic, the spaceships race on tracks that they can fall off of, despite the lack of gravity in outer space. They shouldn't be on tracks to begin with, let alone fall off of them. It makes no sense.

To top it off, Robin, Cyborg, and Beast Boy stay on the track perfectly fine, unless they bump each other off. Starfire and I aren't so lucky.

While the guys race, Starfire and I compete to see who can avoid steering themselves off the edge the longest. Starfire doesn't even know about our competition, yet she has won every round.

We both have zero experience, so I think it has something to do with the whole floating thing. She drifts through the air in opposite direction she turns. It is as though she were inside the vehicle and felt the force of its turns. You see the same sort of force in amusement park rides with high speed turns.

The next race track appears. A track called Falling Star. This isn't going to end well.

Beast Boy wipes away his tears and beams proudly. "Cy, I got this. No way Robin will win this time. I am the undefeated champion of Falling Star."

Cyborg tries to keep a straight face.

Robin has to set down his controller to cover his mouth. Some choking sounds still escape from him.

Starfire looks as clueless as I am.

Cyborg asks, "And how many times have you played Falling Star?"

"Uh, once. Why?"

More louder chocking sounds from the stoic leader follow.

Cyborg takes advantage of the situation. He leans over and presses the "start race" button on Robin's abandoned controller. "No reason."

Unfortunately, Robins sobers up too soon, and we don't even get a heads start on him.

The race proceeds as usual. Robin in the lead with Beast Boy right on his tail. Starfire and I do excellent drunk driver impersonations.

My ship passes hers when a hairpin turn comes up. She does the whole drift thing, and a very real crash occurs.

Starfire flew herself into a wall.

Robin, of course, gets to Starfire first. "Star, are you okay?"

"I am fine."

He helps her up and continues to hold on to her, until her thank you reminds him to let go. Starfire and Robin blush and turn away from each other.

Cyborg and I share a knowing look, and then more mischief shines in Cyborg's eyes. "Yo Robin, I forget to tell you, but you really need to change your password to the tower's computer system."

It takes a moment for it to sink in, but you can tell when it does. Robin's face turns a deeper red than before.

Starfire is just about to ask what Cyborg meant, when Beast Boy saves Robin.

"Hey guys, look!" Beast Boy points at the tv.

We had let our spaceships go straight off the side after the crash, or we would have except someone had to win. The screen zoomed onto a spaceship half on the track with the words "you win" superimposed on the image. Sheer dumb luck kept that spaceship on the longest.

Beast Boy gives me a thumbs up. "Nice one, Tara! You're the new champion of Falling Star!"

Since my sister took my name, and with no alternative name to use, they call me a friend or a guest, if anything at all. They must certainly do not call me by my name. For the Teen Titans, Tara is my sister.

Beast Boy realizes his mistake. "I meant..."

With no name to use, he can't finish his sentence, so he stumbles over an excuse to leave and flees the tense room.

We sit in silence, each lost to their own thoughts. Starfire worries about the situation. Cyborg looks grim, and I swear Robin is plotting something.

Cyborg interrupts quiet time to say he needs to get back to work. The few of us left wonder off from there.

— — — —


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: I do not own the Teen Titans.

Chapter 12: Outplayed — — — — — —

"Uh, hey you, wakie-wakie."

I don't respond.

Someone shakes me. "Dude or dudette? I have no idea what to call you... She Who Needs A Name, wake up!"

I crack open my eyes and see Beast Boy. Starfire and Raven are gone. We were meditating together earlier. They must have left, while I slept.

Starfire and I had a sleepover last night. We stayed up to watch movies, talk, and learned how to stay on the track in our own time.

She said she talked to Beast Boy on that first day, and tried to push Robin into talking with me. I am curious if she influenced Robin at all. With Beast Boy, she defiantly did. Her interference explains the 180 he did, in such a short time, between the the cleaning supplies spill and the backpack snooping.

"You and I have to go shopping." Beast Boy pauses and adds, "Robin's orders."

"Why would Robin want us to go shopping?"

Beast obviously want to be anywhere but here. "He found out about the shoplifted clothes."

After my backpack "exploded," Beast Boy asked about clothes that still had tags on them. I told him and only him about shoplifting them.

I give him an accusing glare. "I wonder how he found out."

"Hey, I only told Star."

"Who talked to Robin. You shouldn't have even known about them in the first place."

He ignores that and returns to his memorized script. The way he talks sounds rehearsed. "Robin said you need to apologize to the store manger and pay for the stolen clothes."

"Not happening. Why are you Robin's new messenger boy?"

He searches around for something, or better yet someone, and whispers, "I'll tell you later."

I plan to hold him to it, but "I am not talking to the store manger."

Beast Boy shuffles uncomfortably. He doesn't want to do this anymore than I do. "Afterward, we're going shopping."

"I'll go with Starfire then." She might let the whole talk with manger thing slide.

"Robin said to tell you, 'Starfire's tastes fall in the pink, purple, and sparkly category, and you'll look adorable when you get back.' Also, I still have to come for the apology."

"Of course you do."

"He seemed to think you would talk Star out of making you do it."

"Well, I seem to think Boy Wonder needs a life," I yell, hoping the person in question overhears.

Wherever Robin is, he is probably having a good laugh right about now. Oh, he will pay for this.

— — — — — — — —

A/N

Have a merry Christmas and happy holidays!


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: I do not own the Teen Titans.

Note: Sarcasm is in _italics_.

Chapter 11: A Part of Something— — — — — — — —

The black divider, that separates the front and backs seats of the car, reflects a mirror Starfire and Beast Boy with me sandwich between them. When word got out about the trip to the mall, Cyborg's car quickly filled.

Starfire came along officially to go to bookstore with Raven and unofficially to get an invite to the mall. Beast Boy failed to notice Starefire's not so subtle hints, and I'd rather take my chance with Beast Boy as a shopping buddy. Pink, purple, and sparkly attract too much attention on the streets, sorry Starfire.

Raven came because she needed a book for her project. The project that most likely involves my sister.

On my first night at the tower, Cyborg did suggest that Raven and him were working on something related to my sister. It still seems odd that Cyborg refused to answer if they were looking for her. Yes should have been the obvious answer. Even if they knew her location, what would they have to work on that would have the same timeframe as my deal with Robin?

It doesn't make sense, and neither does a comment Starfire let slip during the nearly uneventful sleepover.

When she talked about Beast Boy's behavior, Starfire said, "He was closest to your sister. He took her fate the hardest." I tried to asked Starfire what she meant by "fate," and she clammed up. "Fate" bears no resemblance to "leaving". Starfire might not use popular phrases, but she doesn't mix up word definitions between different words. In her mind, my sister did not leave. It matches up with what Robin said about my sister not running away. I have no clue how my sister got separated from the Teen Titans, but Starfire's choice of words combined with the anger, guilt, or sadness the Titans display, when talking about my sister, mean something is up. The Titans are not okay with what happened to her.

I just can't figure out how exactly everything connects. I really have to stop reading the end of mysteries first.

"Hey you, how about July?" Beast Boy asks.

I mentally curse. Starfire and Beast Boy started to play name-the-street-urchin when we got into the car. Raven slid the divider into place, as soon as the car had the power to do so, leaving me alone with these two.

Some of Beast Boy's more memorable names include: Cherry, Stormy, Spirit, Bessie, Lassie, Magic, and now July. I feel like the pet Beast Boy always wanted to name. At least, the human collars had to come off for the trip.

I wish Starfire's were easier to pronounce. She suggest names in her native tongue too long and awkward to ever catch on.

"See if you can come up with something even better," I reply.

Beast Boy and Starfire go back to brainstorming. I try to block them out.

It doesn't matter that much what they choose. The name will get used for a couple of days and that's it.

My thoughts drift over to Sara, and as much as it hurts to face the truth, she doesn't want to see me again. She had to know to know we wouldn't find each other again, if she left, and she must have been okay with that. It is probably wrong not to respect her wishes.

I've never genuinely considered what to do once I catch up to her. There are thousands of fantasies of the moment. All of them resemble a fairytale ending. In reality, it will probably bring both my sister and myself pain.

It is one thing knowing something painful. It is another to see it come to life.

She would probably think of me as a ghost of the past come back to haunt her. It wouldn't be fair to her, and don't think I could take the disbelief and horror on her face. It would be the blow to shatter me.

I probably should give up on finding her, but I need to know she is okay basically well fed with all her limbs attached especially with whatever happened to her.

I guess I'll have to settle for making sure she is okay, well fed and with all her limbs still intact, from a distance and then go on with my own life. The question is what will that life look like.

I can stay on the street until my eighteenth birthday, to avoid foster care, become Tara Jude Wilson again, and then have a semi-normal life. My powers still represent a problem, but it will be much easier to drive than to walk somewhere safe to release the pent up powers. As an adult, I would have even more freedom and a lot more resources, than as a runaway minus the fear of being turned in.

It could work. I could come to Jump City occasionally before my 18th. Since the fault lines sit so close to the city, I wouldn't be able to live here without a car. After I hit eighteen, Jump City can become home. The city's location might even help cover up my powers. An earthquake farther inland from here would not be that uncommon and not too destructive at the same time.

The divider lifts.

Beast Boy practically jumps out of his seat. "Hey Cy, I got the perfect name this time. Lucky!"

Raven says sarcastically, " _Aren't you lucky_?"

"Why yes, yes she is."

Only Beast Boy finds his joke funny.

It's not too late to make Gotham home. They say Gotham is an interesting place to live.

"I have a name I would like to have considered as well," Starfire pauses. "Gwhleidaleoof. It roughly translates to 'Earth'."

"I don't know which one to pick. Raven and Cyborg, please help me out here." I pray they have something, since they can't really do worse.

"Oh, I quite like Lucky."

 _Thank you,_ Raven.

Beast Boy goes starry eyed. "Really?"

The car parks outside the mall.

Cyborg pushes something that spins the front seats around, so we all face each other. "How about Gaia? The name means 'earth' like Star's suggestion, and in Greek mythology, Gaia is a titan with power over earth. Her Roman counterpart was Terra, the same exact name your sister used. It is a good name for you, even if you don't have powers."

Sara must have changed the spelling.

"Perfect!" I don't have to fake the enthusiasm this time.

Cyborg holds out a metal hand. "Nice to meet you, Gaia."

— — — — —

A/N

Yes! I can finally stop calling the main character Tara, and the original character can called Terra again.

This chapter got rewritten so many times. I feel really bad for how long it took to get this up.

Some random, cool, and slightly outdated trivia: The person who voiced Terra is a main character in the Blindspot and has a minor role in The Avengers. (I am not endorsing the show or the movie. If anyone has a problem with this, please let me know, and I'll will delete this.)

As usual, reviews are appreciated!


	14. Chapter 14

Disclaimer: I do not own the Teen Titans.

Chapter 14: The Calm Before the Storm— — — — — — — —

I tried to get out of the apology, of course. Robin may have figured out, that I grabbed the clothes from the same mall I ran into Beast Boy at, since the clothes still had tags on them when Beast Boy saw them. Fortunately, the tags got damaged from the ocean water enough to obscure the store label, so Robin had no way of knowing which store the clothes came from.

Beast Boy still needed to witness an apology, so I planned to apologized to a random store clerk. The store keeper may not recognize me, because I may not have been caught, or the clothes, because they came from the discount rack. The discount rank holds old clothes that failed to sell previous seasons, and the storekeeper can't remember all the clothes the store carried.

All I had to do was make it past the store at the front entrance.

The manger there could remember fighting a teen, that looks similar to me, over discount clothes. While said manger and said teen fought, a fire alarm went off, water rained down, and the normal and the sane out of the building. Yeah, someone might have a hard time forgetting that, specifically the teen.

I thought the chaos presented a great opportunity to grab an extra outfit. But no, the manger thought the same thing and was ready for it to happen. The manger should get employee of the month for trying to catch a shoplifter at the peril of her own safety.

The interference from the manger prevented me from getting out first, despite how close to the exit I was. However, I probably wouldn't have met Beat Boy, if not for that delay.

Beast Boy walked silently beside me. Without his friends around, he closed up. No reason to change that, since it drew less attention to us.

We got halfway through, when the manger stepped in our path.

The manger gave a long winded lecture about the evils of shop lifting. I chocked out some apologies. She was not happy with how I escaped. If someone releases a rope in a game of tug of war, the other party falls and may drop the rope in their surprise.

Beast Boy paid for the clothes, more than they were worth, and promised to keep me out of trouble. The manger agreed not to ban me from the store, and thus the entire mall, as long as I had a Teen Titan's supervision at all times. The manger made it clear that I got off easily, before she let us go.

Once out of the manger's ear shot, Beast Boy asks, "Were you going to walk by the store without apologizing?"

I shrug. "Where did the money, for the mall, come from?"

"The city pays the team to fight crime. Robin's in charge of it, and he gives each of us a small allowance. The money is from that."

"The allowances?"

"Yeah, Star, Robin, Cy, Raven, and I all pitched in."

"That's really nice of you. I have all the clothes I can carry though." Clothes take up space that can go towards other things.

Beast Boy lags behind, before he catches back up. "Don't worry about it. So... what kind of clothes do you like?"

— — — — — — — —

Shopping was not fun.

Beast Boy counted all the items I went in and out of the dressing rooms with, and he went through our bags, with the receipts in hand, before leaving a store. He was smart to do so, but the whole thing took out any enjoyment of the trip. Robin would be proud of his little protégé.

Each of us carried a couple bags. We made our way to the exit, when Beast Boy stepped on the wrong side of the escalator by mistake. He stumbles and catches himself.

With no one else around, I call out, "Race you down," and before he can protest, I run down the other side.

"Gaia! This isn't a fair race!"

"Who said it had to be fair? Besides, you're in better shape."

While I want to check on him, he might take the lead. Beast Boy didn't sound far off.

It ends in a tie with both of us laughing between loud breathes.

A mall cop appears out of nowhere.

Beast Boy steps in front of me, shielding me from the cops vision. I was about to hide behind him, on the off chance, the mall cops heard about the incident at the college. I wonder why Beast Boy responded the way he did. I push the thought back to analyze later.

I grab Beast Boy's hand and lower my head, letting hair cover my face, to play the role of the shy girlfriend.

Beast Boy stiffens at the touch, then he wraps his fingers around mine.

The officer notice must notice although he doesn't say anything about it. "Beast Boy, correct?"

"Yes, sir." Beast Boy sounds so nervous I smile at the ridiculousness of a supper hero more afraid of the cops than a minor criminal.

"Do you know what would happen, if I had to press the emergency stop button, because you or your friend tripped? You would each face a $400 ticket right now."

"I am sorry, sir. It won't happen again."

"It better not. I would hate to write up a superhero and his girlfriend." The officer clicks a pen. "My daughter is a huge fan."

Beast Boy let's go of hand and give the mall cop an autograph.

The officer leaves, and we walk over to some benches. Beast Boy slums into a seat, shaken up by the whole thing.

I excuse myself to the bathroom. Beast Boy needs time to gather himself, and Beast Boy does not need someone smiling like an idiot while he does so.

The smile refuses to go away. I am genuinely happy. For a moment, on the escalators, we were normal kids, light and free.

Wait, I am happy. Mental alarms go off. The emotion gets shoved down with all the other emotions. The action causes too much resistance, which means my power will reach critical point in under a week. I curse. It takes a week to get somewhere relatively safe. I knew Robin's deal would cut things close but not like this. This is bad, really bad.

— — — —

I try to act normal and walk out to find Beast Boy had called Cyborg to pick us up. I ask Beast what he did to get sentenced to the mall.

It turns out Beast Boy got pranked by Cyborg and wanted to return the favor. Beast Boy added a glue to a bottle of Slick, which he though was Cyborg's oil.

"I added it to Robin's hair gel."

I burst out laughing. "No wonder you were Robin's messenger boy."

"Robin promised to forgive me if I came. Hey, I hear something."

Beast Boy gets to his feet and pulls out a strange walky-talky. "Guys, something is wrong at the mall."

I can hear the screams too now.

— — — — —

A/N If you have any question about the story, feel free to pm or post a review.


	15. Chapter 15

Disclaimer: I do not own the Teen Titans.

A/N Hi, I've been needing to say this for awhile now. It is more for any younger more impressionable kids who could be reading this. While stealing is kind of shrugged off in this story, it is not okay to do it.

Chapter 15: Fallout— — — — — — — —

Beast Boy hesitantly steps away unsure of what to do with his charge. "I should go see what that is. Uh, please don't steal anything." He dashes into a nearby store towards the danger.

The people from the store run the other way. Most make their way to the main entrance. The few that recall emergency doors do exist set off the fire alarm. The alarm drowns out the terrified, panicked voices, even while the other stores of the mall evacuate.

It feels as though I am back in time, reliving an old nightmare. Many of my sister's episodes resulted in scenes like this. The no idea what is going on and no idea how to fix it makes this event resemble the early and scary days of our powers.

A roar, which belongs in the prehistoric era, rings out. The power goes out.

I tuck the bags of clothes under the bench, and walk to the emergency exit. An evacuee kicks a small object, sending it into a skid across the floor. The object is Beast Boy's walkie-talkie. I retrieve the object and leave the mall. Around the same time, the monster releases another bone vibrating roar, and a wall begins to give way.

I don't look back.

— — — — — — — —

It may have been a good moment to disappear but not without supplies. Without my backpack I would have to collect some supplies before skipping town, and it takes time to gather supply. Titans could probably use that time to track me like they did at the docks.

"I should have known you'd have Beast Boy communicator."

I nearly jump out of my seat. I expected them to speak through the walkie-talkie not sneak up from behind.

"Hi Cyborg."

He takes in scene, and he is not happy with what he sees. "You're here drinking a milkshake while BB fought Plasmus alone."

"Smoothie," I correct before I can think better of it.

Cyborg shakes his head. "Come on," he says in a cold, disappointed voice.

We don't talk as he leads the way back to the mall.

The exterior of the shopping center resembles a war zone.

The police blockade the street to keep civilians away from the mall and the sinkhole in the street. When we walk by, the police barley glance our way.

A massive hole in mall shows how monster got inside. From the top of the hole, small portions of wall rain down. A pair in hazmat suits carry a stretch in through the hole, and Cyborg yells at them not to do it again.

We run into the hazmat pair again on their way out of the mall. They now carry an unmoving man in his underwear.

The mall will have to undergo major remodeling. Dents and scratches cover the walls and floor. Clothing racks and bathroom fixtures lay near the wall dents. Purple patches of mud got splattered around the area, and the bathroom near the escalator is gone.

A shallow pool of water covers a good chunk of the floor. I was about to walk through it when Cyborg gives up the cold shoulder treatment to warn that the water could carry a lethal electrical current.

On a dry area of floor, the police talk with the other Titans. Beast Boy notices us approaching first, and he freaks out over it. There is a lot of hand waving in an attempt to shoo us away. When Beast Boy gains the attention of the others, he quickly stops his dance.

"Stay here. I'll go see what Beast Boy wants."

Beast Boy meets Cyborg halfway and whispers something to him. Cyborg's eyes widen and dart to the police. He places a hand on Beast Boy and tells him something back. Beast Boy calms down upon hearing it.

Cyborg walks back and continues in his direction forcing me to follow. "All right, we're gonna go wait in my car."

I roll my eyes. "The police don't know me." Looking back, I actually doubt even the college police could identify me after all this time, and they aren't even here. Even with the shoplifting incident, the store clerk had said I was lucky she hadn't called the police on me.

Cyborg either doesn't believe that or, much more plausible, there is another reason. "They're just finalizing a report for the police. We can go meet 'em in the car. You can even have shotgun on the way back. What do ya say?"

It is Hobson's choice, a choice with only one option, or at least it is for those not clever to come up with their own and not bold enough to act on it.

"Sure, just let me grab my bags."I slip away and head straight to the group.

If the police saw me, maybe they act in the way in the way Cyborg and Beast wanted to prevent. Not the best idea, but one mystery already drives me crazy. A second mystery with the answers so close was too much.

A metal hand laches on to my shoulder. "Nice try."

— — — — — — —

Beast Boy got the front seat. Raven had to run errand, and Starfire and Robin decided to pick up pizza.

Beast Boy recounts the battle with a mud monster called Plasmus. He is more than enthusiastic to have an audience to tell even if that audience consists of a single person. It is kind of interesting to watch Beast Boy explain the fight.

"So what happened to the mud monster?"

"Plamus turned back. His powers turn him into the radioactive swamp creature from the purple lagoon whenever he is awake. He has no control over it, so they keep him asleep for everyone's safety." Beast Boy shifts in seat to face Cyborg. "Hey Cy, Mega Monkey: Special Edition comes out tomorrow."

He has no control over his powers just like my sister. They wouldn't lock her away too, would they?

Why hide me from the police? The heroes and the police are on the same side. A particular cop could be corrupt, but nothing in the interaction between the mall cop and Beast Boy on the cop's part suggests this. I don't think it had to do with my shoplifting habit. He may have shielded me because I look like my sister, but my sister would need a reason for the police to respond to her in a way that Beast Boy would feel they presented a threat. It is either because she is a criminal, an absurd possibility, or she is locked up because of her powers.

The Teen Titans know about her powers, so they would have to know about her lack of control.

Cyborg and Raven could be looking for a way to get her out of prison. This is what Robin could have meant when he said she didn't run away, but it would make more sense if Robin worked on her case to get her out. Mr. Rule Follower would be perfect to work on the legal aspect, yet maybe he already did, and Titans need a way to control her powers by magic or technology.

It explains a lot. For example, their emotions when they talk about her, her "fate," and Raven's odd discomfort on the subject of sacrifice.

Sara must have decided to go the prison against the Titan's objections. What prompted the choice, and did she really even have one? If the Teen Titans knew about my powers, would I get see her in the cell next door before falling into a more permanent sleep? "Permanent sleep" sounds like an euphemism for death.

I shove the thoughts out.

— — — — — — — — — —

When we get back, Cyborg doesn't forget to put the cuffs back on.

While we eat pizza, Starfire asks us questions from teen magazine quizzes. Robin's best chapstick flavor falls into a tie between merry cherry and wishes. Yeah, not even the Titans know what wishes taste like, though Cyborg guesses meat, and Beast Boy suggests tofu. Raven will marry Batman. Her death stare prevents any jokes about Robin introducing them. Out of all male Teen Titans, Cyborg would end up dating himself, and even Raven smiles at that.

Starfire blushes as she hands the quiz to Robin and ask him to read her the questions on the Teen Titan boyfriend quiz.

"Star, you got Beast Boy," Robin says less than thrilled by the news.

Everyone minus Robin stares at the future couple. The Dark Knight's old apprentice sinks into a darker mood.

The alarms go off, and just like that, the Titans go off to fight another villain.

From the alarms and Starfire letting me know when they left for a mission as well as the beep the tower makes when someone comes inside, they shouldn't be back for at least an hour.

First the bracelets have to come off.

The cleaning closet contains acid that can eat through most things including metal. That plan goes right above cutting off my hands.

I try to push the bracelets off. They grow as they move over my wrist. It is too easy! Then I see a strange red glow on a web of skin as the bracelet slides closer to my thumb. It _is_ too easy. There must be a laser thing that will go off if the bracelet gets removed without Cyborg's help.

It sparks another idea. I carry an oblique cylindrical container and plastic gloves from the cleaning supply closet to the bathroom. I clean the cylindrical container out and remove the top. I then fill one of the gloves with air. It becomes semi-clear which may still set off the bracelets' lasers. An extra glove over the first yields similar results, so I slide a glove under the cuff and fill it with Robin's hair gel like a water ballon. The same act of revenge feels very satisfying, and Slick does resemble oil. No light will get through the glove now. It takes time to slide small amounts of gel under the bracelet, but eventually, the glove grows large enough to increase the cuff's diameter to that of the cylinder's.

Twenty minutes later both cuffs are wrapped around the cylinder, and I am free.

As I wipe my hands on the towel, I want to hit my head against the wall. I could have just grabbed the end of a towel and slid the bracelets off directly onto the towel in the matter of seconds.

I just have to hope Cinderblock keeps the Titans busy. Cinderblock at least sounds like tough villain name. Still to stay more than another twenty would push it. I need to know for sure what happened to her.

They would hide information about my sister somewhere I can't get to so either technology or their rooms.

Robin must have changed his computer password after what Cyborg said, and something tells me that "Raven1" works as well as it did last time.

That leave their bedrooms. I start in Robin's room. The room appears unchanged, though the closet, hidden from the hall, probably wasn't this clean, but that's- That's not all! The newspaper clippings got relocked to the closet door.

All the articles are about her:

"Mysterious New Girl Joins the Teen Titans."

"Teen Hero Joins the Dark Side."

"Mastermind Slade recruits Terra."

"Terra Takes Down Mundo."

"New Titan."

"Puppy Love Turns to Heartbreak for Beast Boy."

"Mysterious Fissures Found in the Abandoned Theme Park."

"Betrayal"

"Traitor!"

"Ultimate Sacrifice."

"Terra Saves the City One Last Time."

I crumble to the floor. It can't be. It can't be right. She can not be gone. She is only fourteen. She is only fourteen years old.

The rest of the afternoon passes in way disconnected from time in a disjointed blur.

The pain, the sadness, the grief does not come just shock and numbness, thank god.

I remember thinking that they spelled my name wrong and that I am not dead only to rediscover the newspapers are about my sister.

The Titans must have seen the mess in the bathroom and started searching for me. I remember wondering what "Gaia" was. They eventually found me. Starfire wrapped her arms around me and sang lullabies in words I couldn't decipher.

Cyborg berated Robin. "If not for your plan, we wouldn't be here right now." Sometimes Cyborg switched the target of his anger to Raven. Neither of them put up much of fight.

Beast Boy tries to break it up, or at least get Cyborg's attention to tell them that they should "talk" somewhere else.

Robin wanted to wait to tell me in hopes it would be better news, and because he worried how I'd take it without having anyone to lean on and with the thing that drove me smashed.

Raven admitted she thought I would move against the city with the wrong influence. After all, it only took Slade's influence and the assumption of a broken promise to turn Terra into a dangerous enemy.

They don't know if Terra is dead or not.

Someone yelled "stop". The room became quiet after that.

I wake up in Robin's bed.

Starfire reluctantly hands me my backpack.

I am at the elevator saying goodbye to the Titans.

Starfire begs me to stay and hugs me tight. Cyborg gives me a new bracelet with hexagon shaped bolts of different colors. The number of each color provides a digit in a special password to the tower. It will also alert Cyborg and the others when the code gets entered. Their trust only goes so far.

Robin ties the wire stringing the bolts together and says he is sorry.

Raven watches with suspicion, but chocks out a simple "sorry," when Beast Boy elbows her. Beast Boy says he is sorry for my lose, but he knows that Terra will come back. Raven gives him a look that suggests she does not share Beast Boy's conviction.

It will be a long trip long enough that the Titans will be surprised when the alert would come in, though they should not be that shocked. Only they can give the full story for what happened with Terra, and I will need to hear that story just not yet.

— — — — — — — —

Earthquakes trouble a specific area, yet they cause minimal damage to the nearby cities. A journalist writes a small, filler article on the topic that goes in the back of the newspaper.

— — — — — —

A/N

It feels so good to get this major point in the story! I hope the end of the chapter turned out okay. Grief is hard to write about as it is to deal with. I am sorry this chapter is so late in coming.

Hi Jerzu, I am glad to hear that you like the story! (: The events are not so much out of order as much as there are new events are added into the story (with one small exception coming up.)


	16. Chapter 16

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Teen Titans.**

A/N Italics are either for draw attention to something or for sarcasm.

Chapter 16: Their World — — — — — —

I press the enter key and duck behind a nearby boulder. It should work this time, but Cyborg neglected to say which end of the bracelet the passcode started on, and if the wrong sequence gets entered in again, the door promised to activate its lasers.

I risk a glance at the now open door.

The tunnel to the tower slopes downward to go under the ocean floor. It provides a way to get the T-car and Robin's motorcycle off the island, so pedestrian use didn't register as a priority in the design. The lights spacing allows sections of darkness fine for a vehicle with headlights even with the fog. The damp, cool air provides perfect conditions for said fog. Combine this with the echoes of footsteps and water drops, and the enclosed space feels like a clave.

A ways in a new sounds travel down the tunnel.

It is probably just the Titans coming to greet their guest, and yet when they don't call out, instincts scream danger.

I pull out my new pocket knife. Robin confiscated the old knife and refused to return it. He said something about how the blade measured at exactly three inches and ignored any further complaints. My old pocket knife wasn't that impressive and the new weapon even less so. I glance down at my weapon. No one would tremble in fear of a two inch knife. A regular kitchen knife is more menacing.

In a spot between lights, I sit down against a wall and search for pebbles. When the search reveals clean concrete, I take the lid off my lip balm.

The source of the noise could probably travel faster than a worn out traveler weighed down by a heavy backpack. A security system with lasers must have cameras, and the passcode itself might have tipped whoever off. They know I am here. The best I can do is hide my exact location in the tunnel.

My growing fear presents the biggest challenge, but failure to keep it under control could lead to a watery grave.

Eventually, the pursuer passes under the light, and I catch a blur near the celling where the fog lightens.

They come to a stop somewhere in front of me. Apparently, they have better sight.

I leap up, throw the chapstick cap the other way, and dash to a nearby light. My path gets cut off by a giant... gingerbread man. The Christmas cookie stands almost up the celling. A second gingerbread man blocks off the other direction.

I ward them off with the knife.

One yawns and gestures for its companion to take care of this.

The companion ignores the knife and comes closer. _Great_ , not even gingerbread men are afraid of two inch knifes.

I stab the approaching gingerbread man with the knife. He doesn't even notice. When he reaches down to grab me, I attempt to dive under him and don't quite make it. He grabs my foots and pulls me into an upside down hug.

I hit and kick the kidnapper, until I realize it might not feel so great getting dropped head first. The kidnapper, unwisely, takes the moment of cease fire to flip me right side up. More useless kicks and hits ensue.

They go back to the tower and head up to the living room. The room got a major redecoration into diabetes central. Everything consists of sweets.

An old woman, dressed for Halloween with an extra eye and warts on her green face, greets us. "Ooh, who do we have here?"

When I refuse to answer, the gingerbread man squeezes tighter.

"Shy are you? That is fine. Mother Mae-Eye has other ways to find what she wants. Rae-Rae, come here child!"

A witch in a candy house reminds me of an old fairytale where the witch tries to cook her visitors.

"You know, this seems like a bad time. I can just come back later."

"Ah, so you can speak. Well, that is just nonsense. Your timing couldn't be better." The witch gives a "you're just so cute I could eat you" smile.

Raven pokes her head out. She wears a yellow dress and hair bows.

"Raven, is that you?"

Raven gives a big smile and points at me. "G-Ge-Gena? No, it is Ge-Ge-Gaia. You're name is hard to say."

The whole thing is rather disturbing.

"It is okay, Rae-Rae. We will just call her Gena-Mina."

"Mother Mae-Eye, can our friend stay and play with us?"

The witch pats Raven on the head. "Yes dear, in moment she can. Now, run along."

Raven does just that, shouting in the distance, "You won't believe who I just saw."

We are _so_ screwed.

"What did you do to her?"

The witch's voice loses all sweetness. "Nothing you need to worry about. Now let's fatten you up."

* * *

"Gaia," someone shouts. "Friend, please comeback to us."

"Wait, there is something else I want to ask her."

"Hurry, she is starting to come to."

"Gena-Mina, do you have powers?"

"No." It is more a curse not a power.

"We already asked her that her first time in the tower," says Robin.

Beast Boy shuffles around uncomfortable. "I just wanted to ask."

I pitch forward, and Starfire helps me back up. My head feels fuzzy like waking up from a long nap. "What happened?"

"Someone brought home a cursed pie." Robin gives Cyborg, not Beast Boy, a half-hearted glare.

For his part Cyborg attempts to appear sheepish. "It could happen to anyone."

"Cursed pie?"

"Anyone who eats the pie gets a mother called Mother Mae-Eye. She steals their boogers, ties their shoes, and forces them to wear sweaters. It is truly awful." Starfire shutters against the memories. Just what kind of childhood did Starfire have?

"Uh Star, she also tried to COOK US ALIVE," adds Beast Boy.

"Oh, that as well," Starfire says barely paying any mind to it. "So, friend, you wish for here to be your new home."

"How did you know that?"

"We asked you-" The two closest to Starfire, Cyborg and Raven, cover her mouth.

"Lucky guess," says Cyborg.

They asked me before I came to.

It really doesn't matter what asked about. The only secret worth wild Beast Boy already asked about. However, I would love to tease them about how unethical it for heroes take advantaged of a drugged friend, but they would question how I knew that and how reliable some of the answers they got were specifically that last answer.

Even Terra, might as well get in the habit of calling her that, did not know everything. The knowledge would only burden her. The knowledge _would have burdened_ her _._

"I would like to stay if you would let me."

Beast Boy believed Terra could be saved. If anyone would uncover or come across a way to save Terra, it is Teen Titans. They have access to the most advanced technology and magic, and they regularly come into contact with other magic and advanced technology. Plus, they want to save her. Honestly, they probably didn't need a middle school drop out to help them, but I could catch something they miss.

She is my sister, and I would do anything to help her.

Starfire breaks free from Raven and Cyborg and proceeds to cut off my air supply. "Of course you can stay."

Robin breaks the news that Starfire can't just decide to take in a homeless person. "Star, we are superheroes, and she doesn't have powers. We just had someone invade our house." Robin turns to me. "When something like that happens, you can't defend yourself. Our world isn't safe for you."

"And yet the streets are safe? I feel like a stray cat all of you are considering adopting."

"Oh, that reminds me. Here are your new and improved shock bracelets." While Cyborg's tone suggests a joke, he does lock them back into place. "They now remain the same size after you put them on."

 _"Gee, thanks."_

Cyborg holds his hands up in surrender. "Hey I am all for you staying as long as you wear those and stay away from my tech."

You don't have to be that close to a computer to throw water at it. Maybe Beast Boy owns a water gun I can barrow. Robin's hair and Cyborg's computers, two birds one stone.

"I am not saying I don't want you here. It just you will become an easy target for villains, and they will be a lot harder to deal with than the occasional street thug."

"Uh Robin, Gaia is a black belt. She can go all, hi-yah, kung fu karate ninja on the bad guys Robin style." Beast imitates some karate moves he probably saw on tv.

Cyborg cuts in before Robin can object. "I'm sure Robin would love to train you." He gives Robin a silent "it is the least you can do."

Still holding onto me, Starfire squeals in joy. "Yes please do, then Gaia can join us on missions!" _Breathing and hearing are both overrated._

Raven gestures at the cuffs. "You don't trust her, yet you want to give her weapons and teach her to use them, _smart_."

Cyborg decides to call it before the Starfire and Beast Boy can reflect on Raven's words. "Let's put it to a vote. All in favor of Gaia staying..." Surprisingly, only Robin's hand does not raise. "Looks like you're outvoted."

"I'm withholding my vote for now. Raven, I thought you were against it."

"I don't entirely trust you." Raven strutized for any trace of potential dishonestly. I must have passed for she relaxes the tinniest bit. "I also don't believe you will betray us outright either."

Robin turns to his last potential ally. "Beast Boy?"

Beast Boy shrugs. "What Raven said."

Robin tries a last ditch effort. "You should know some villains remember what Terra looked like and will target you if they ever know of your existence. On the streets no one will pay much attention to you. No one will realize if you go missing, but it is unlikely anyone will recognize you. You can still have a semi-normal life. Once you become a hero, there is no turning back from this world. Are you sure you want this?"

I already know that the vote will become unanimous upon my answer.

Eventually, someone may discover what I can do, and I'll get sucked into their world regardless. More importantly their world means saving my sister.

"I'm sure."

— — —

A/N The rough and hardest to write draft for the next chapter is already written. It was originally going to be part of this chapter, but the word count is already larger than average, and it had a clean stopping point. I think a lot of readers have stopped to check if this chapter was posted yet, so for this time around, I am setting release date that I can for sure stick to: August 30th. Hopefully, I can focus long enough to finally get a backup chapter saved up too.

Hi Jerzu, first of all sorry for getting back to you so late. (Honestly, I feel really bad for not getting this chapter up sooner for all the readers.) Yeah, it would be a little hard to cover up a tower collapsing. Cyborg probably keeps a black box, like the ones they have incase a plan crushes, with a lot of the towers data recorded just in case, so blaming it on a freak chemical cocktail created by the odor from Beast Boy's dirty clothes wouldn't work either. Grief is hard to write about. It is really good to know that Gaia's grief came across okay. The whole last names was completely unintentional, and I didn't even know until you pointed it out. I googled common last names. Wilson came up. It doesn't mean something won't be done with it, if that something fits in okay with everything else and isn't something overplayed like "Luke, I am your father." If Gaia knows exactly what Slade did to her sister, their potential meeting (or reunion) would defiantly be something to look forward to (that should be spoiler free). Thank you so much for your reviews! (: Also, from that last reply I said one event would be out of order. That was a big mix up on my end. All scenes from the show should be in chronological order.


	17. Chapter 17

Disclaimer: **I do not own the Teen Titans.**

A/N This chapter has been updated and completed. **Also** , the recap contains nothing new, and if you are familiar with what happened with Terra, skip it.

Chapter 17 Fixing Mistakes— — — —

Their training room contained all sorts of exercise equipment. Like most gyms sweat permeated the air. We stop at a mat. Robin wanted to see what I could do, and jugging from our entourage, the others were curious to see how things would play out.

This was going to humiliating.

My practice on the streets consisted of teaching Terra basic self-defense for an afternoon. She didn't even wish to learn that, but with all the unsavory people out there, she agreed for that one afternoon and nothing more.

Robin's fighting skills and gadgets brought him to superhero status. He could probably take on most martial art experts and come out on top.

I didn't stand a chance against him.

I rub at my newly freed wrists. The new and "improved" bracelets chaffed. "Could I fight Beast Boy." He looked the weakest.

The weakling in question squeaked out a "me?"

"No I want to see what you can do myself." He gets into a semi-familiar fighting stance. "Whenever your ready."

I mirror the stance, and after a deep breathe, I aim a hand strike for Robin's shoulder. He brushes it aside, so I try a snap kick. Robin catches my foot. If he tugged on it, I'd land on my but. Instead, he releases it. I decide to stick to a variety of hand strikes after that. He blocks all of the hits with ease.

Robin smirks. "So you went to a McDojo."

Beast Boy asks, "What's that?"

"It's a place that hands out unearned black belts for money."

I let Robin answer and use the opportunity to try to use jujutsu. Jujutsu uses an opponent's momentum against them. I latch onto the arm that blocked my blow and pull it in the direction it moves.

I practiced karate not jujutsu, and it shows.

Robin doesn't even budge.

I put too much force into it and lose balance. Robin prevents me from face planting into the mat.

After some more increasingly sloppy hits, Robin finally takes the offensive. His moves, easy to block at first, pick up speed until a kick to the stomach knocks me down.

He offers some assistance up. "I suppose I teach you the basics and help you earn that black belt."

That also means more chances to knock that annoying smirk off. Starfire will probably still like him even if he is missing a few teeth.

"Why don't you settle in, and we'll all go somewhere to talk tonight." Robin checks in with his teammates who all show signs of understanding what Robin intends to discuss.

Starfire steels herself. "Surely, someone else can train Gaia."

"Not really, Star," says Robin confused.

Starfire leads Robin to a different area of the room.

I fall next to Beast Boy. "What's going on with Starfire?"

"Cyborg told her you two were flirting and reminded her of the drawings of Robin and his uniform that we found in your room."

"That's crazy. Those drawings all came with funny mustaches, unibrows, and horns." I had forgotten about the uniform. They also must have found a grocery trip's worth of food hidden in there too.

Starfire and Robin finish their conversation. Robin turns away, and Starfire stares after him crushed.

Stupid, meddlesome robot, you only made things worse.

...

"Starfire, can I talk to you?"

Starfire wipes away any tears and gestures for me to come in.

I hold up my bracelets. Cyborg just fixed them so they move with my wrist but not so much that they could slide off. I needed the bracelets fixed more than I needed to yell at him for this mess.

"Your room, perhaps?"

We walk down the hall. The only noise comes from Robin and Beast Boy in living room.

"Dude, I see Slade and Evil Dude's symbol every time I close my eyes from the last video. Don't you think we might have found anymore clues by now if there were any?"

"Play the video again."

I close the door, and Starfire and I each take a seat on the guest bed.

I realize I have no idea how to talk about this, so I might as well get straight to the point. "I don't like Robin."

Starfire stares at the bed. "You don't like him. You love him."

I am dumbstruck for a moment. "How did you come up with that!?"

It's her turn to be confused. "Is that not what Earthlings usually say?"

A memory of the romance movie we watched during our sleepover comes to mind. "Only in the movies. Starfire, I don't even remotely like Robin let alone love him."

Starfire risks looking up and some hope finally starts to creep in. "But hate and love are close emotions."

Starfire really needs to lay off on the romance movies.

"And worlds apart. I don't have any romanic feelings for Robin."

I know how things would have played out had no one come to talk to her. Starfire, who always tries to thinks of others, would have cast aside her own feelings and pushed for what she thought was her friend's happiness. All the while she'd believed she never even had a shot with the boy she cared deeply for.

I decide to take things farther. "Though it does seem as though you like him." Starefire glows red and hides it with a pillow. "You should tell him how you feel."

Starfire's words come out muffled. "No, I can't do that! What if he doesn't like me that way back? What if he decides he no longer wants to be my friend? What if won't talk to me afterwards? What if-"

"He likes you back. Do it when you're ready, but he has a crush on you too."

I briefly wonder why the other Titans didn't have this talk with her. It doesn't take long to find the answer. None of them would have initiated this talk. Even pushed Raven would have only said something, if Starfire annoyed her enough, and it was the fastest way to get rid of Starfire. Beast Boy would have made up some sort of excuse to get out of the situation, and Cyborg orchestrated this love triangle mess. Honestly, I wouldn't have touched it with a ten foot pole, if I wasn't dragged into it.

I push the guilt and shame, that come with the thought, away but not before admitting that we need to try to do better for our friend.

Starfire surrenders her captive. The poor pillow sags in the middle in a way no amount of fluffing will fix. "Are you sure Robin likes me romantically?"

"Anyone who watches the two of you knows that he does. You know his password to the computers was your name. Passwords reflect things that are very important to that person and something that they'll never forget." So that might not always be true, but in this case, it defiantly is.

The remaining doubt vanishes with a smile and Starfire pulls me into a hug. "Thank you, Gaia."

I hug her back. "You can do it whenever you feel ready to. I'll be here if you need someone to talk to."

— — —

Later that day we pile into Cyborg's car. Raven, who got there long before anyone else, claims the front seat. Robin takes his motorcycle. Cyborg drives out of the city limits into the desert, and the car comes to a stop near a cavern.

Inside the cave a lifelike statue of Terra stands tall. Starfire swaps the dead flowers, by the statue's feet, with bouquet she brought with her. On the statue's base, a golden plaque reads, "Terra, a Teen Titan," and "a true friend."

I shove any pain and sorrow deep down. "Why out here?"

Starfire answers, "She is safe here."

"That statue looks just like her." I had tried to pull off her expression in mirrors to catch a glimpse of my sister, but the expressions never looked quite right. This statue did capture her perfectly.

Beast Boy takes a step toward the statue. His eyes shine with future tears. "That is her."

I shove the sadness down again.

Robin says, "It's a long story."

Cyborg adds, "And it is about time you heard it."

The five of them tell the story with each filling in what the others missed.

— — —Terra's Story (Summary/Recap)— — —

Once upon a time, there was a girl called Terra. She ran into the Teen Titans. The Titans took an instant liking to the girl and invited to join their team. Terra had powers over the earth, but she could not control them. When Beast Boy uncovered this fact, she swore him to secrecy. She was afraid the Titans would turn on her too like countless others including her own sister. A villain called Slade saw how useful she could be and nurtured her fears of betrayal, so much so, that once the other Titans realized her lack of control, Terra believed Beast Boy had broken his word and ran away, before they could explain the misunderstanding. She ran to Slade. He further groomed her to take revenge on her old friends.

She returned to Titans. Her powers mastered. The Titans accepted her back with open arms. That is all but a young sorceress known as Raven. Raven knew something was wrong, yet without solid proof Raven's concerns were dismissed, and even Raven had to admit the fears were groundless as Terra proved herself loyal day in and day out.

Then one night Terra hacked into the tower. She was reluctant to say goodbye to her best friend and crush, Beast Boy, so she agreed to a date. Slade caught up to them and took delight in exposing her lie.

With lines drawn, Terra fought her former friends. While they were reluctant to take her on at first, the Titans were forced to take her out or be taken out themselves.

Terra lost to the Titans and ran back to Slade. Terra brutally uncovered she was only a tool to Slade. Terra changed heart, but it was too late because Slade controlled her body. Slade forced her to fight Beast Boy. Terra begged Beast Boy to do her in. He encouraged her to fight back. Beast boy's faith was not misplaced, but in the girl's struggle for control, a volcano awoke.

Slade got consumed by lava, and the rest of the city faced a similar fate. Terra sacrificed herself to save everyone and atone for what she did. Terra died a hero.

— — — — (End of Recap)

"There may not be a way to bring Terra back."

Beast Boy angrily turns on the teenage sorcerer. "Don't say that!"

Raven fixes him with a cool gaze. "Simply stating something does not change the validity of it."

Cyborg says, "We've tried everything we could think of to bring her back multiple times."

Beast Boy shows his youth by asking, "How come Slade gets to come back?"

"Trigon, Slade is his lackey, and there will come a time when Trigon won't need Slade anymore just like he won't need me after the portal is open."

The Titans explain the whole end of the world problem involving an evil demon who happens to be Raven's father. I have trouble processing past Slade's resurrection.

He will pay for what he has done to my sister.

— — —

A/N Timeline wise, the next episodes are the end of world ones.

Jerzu Rose maybe a big maybe. It's hard to believe Slade has a daughter.


	18. Chapter 18

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Teen Titans**.

Chapter 18 The Cost of Secrets — — —

My arms give out, and I drop to the floor.

I don't know who to hate more right now: Robin or Cyborg.

Robin's so called training consists of bitter smoothies and long list of exercises that he spends minutes writing out but take hours to complete. Thanks to Cyborg, Robin doesn't need to supervise or even check in.

An overly cheerful, female voice says, "Only one more pull up, Gaia. You can do it!"

Despite their focus on trying to prevent the whole end of world thing, Cyborg still found the time to create Camber. The program kindly makes sure I complete Robin's exercise regiment.

"That was ten!"

"I am sorry. I only counted nine. Please do one more. You can do it!"

Cyborg wins. It is defiantly the sadistic robot who only knows a single inspirational phrase and intentionally miscounts.

I would gladly walk out of here, if Camber did not control the lock on the door.

When this fact was first uncovered, I tried the old bathroom excuse, and Camber opened a hidden door to the exercise room's bathroom. A request to get food, and Camber replies, "It is not good to exercise right after eating. Please finish exercising first. You can do it!" With the huge water dispenser and water fountain, I don't ask for a beverage, but I've ran all sorts of other excuses by Camber: go shopping with Starfire, take a shift as a look out, save the president, and go to the hospital. None of which have worked. Camber always says, "There will be time for that later. Now please do (insert number here) of (insert workout here). You can do it!"

When the end of the world does happen, Camber will happily remind me how many jumping jacks I need to do. The last words I'll hear are "you can do it."

I do an eleventh pull up, and the door's lock clicks.

"See you tomorrow, and have a nice rest of your day!"

I complete the rest of the goodbye ritual by throwing a shoe at the speaker Camber's voice comes out of.

— — — —

In the living room, tall stacks of papers litter the floor. Starfire and Robin sit in the middle of the paper city, holding a notebook and a laptop respectively.

Starfire points with her pencil at something written down. "You should try the search for 'scary libraries.'"

Robin gives a tired nod, and soon more papers slide out over the printer's full tray and onto the floor.

I continue past them and find Beast Boy asleep on the hallway floor. A bit of a shake wakes him up. He promises to return soon and sleep walks in the direction of his bedroom. Beast Boy almost bumps into the walls as he makes his way.

He leaves behind a comic and some Norse Ragarök articles. The floor feels warm where Beast Boy sat.

I get too distracted in reading to notice when Raven approaches.

"Do you need more books to borrow?"

I close the comic and read "Mega Monkeys of Death" on the cover.

I say louder than normal, "That would great, Raven."

Starfire gives a quiet "eep".

Cyborg's time would have been much better spent on creating a covert signal than on Camber. As it is, only a fool wouldn't realize something something is up. Fortunately, Raven only raises an eyebrow, probably deciding our odd behavior was not something she cared to deal with.

Raven and I talk about books, and by the time we reach the living room, the papers have disappeared, and Robin and Starfire watch the news.

Soon Raven retreats back to her room, and Starfire lifts the couch up, while Robin and I move the research evidence out from under it.

Robin moves much slower at this simple task, and Starfire notices this as well.

"Maybe we should take a break."

"No, we haven't found anything. There has to be something out that can help."

"We have time-"

"We don't have time. If Raven hadn't kept this hidden, there might be time." Robin takes in Starfire's worry for him, and his tensions fades away. "I'll keep looking after lunch."

Starfire sits the couch down with the last of research stuff removed and sits herself down beside Robin. "We'll keep looking."

The third wheel takes lunch in the guest bedroom.

We do continue the research for most of the day. Starfire has been working whenever Robin does. This achieves three things. She gets to spend more with her crush. Starfire can carry off the papers at the end of day, so Robin cannot research all night long again, and finally, because Robin knows how hard he pushes himself impacts Starfire, he takes more breaks and shorter hours.

Since Beast Boy and I can take shifts as look out, Robin doesn't have a reason to follow through on his idea to move operation in his room. It works out for everyone. Beast Boy gets to play spy, and I get to ruin Robin's goal to take this on solo and help Starfire at the same time.

They agreed to keep the whole research thing a secret from Raven, until they find something substantial. So far the wide nets caught nothing valuable.

Personally, the search for answers seems to be distraction from the world burning.

Cyborg's safe house might succeed. Cyborg accepts meals brought down to him. He even readjusted my bracelets to give me clearance into that area, but anytime someone tries to help past that, he turns us away. Starfire's the one who got him to accept the food, but she can't push back that.

Robins calls it an early night, an article clutched in a death grip.

— — —

It doesn't take long for Robin to show up, and his moods only got worse. He says that we need to talk and takes off my bracelets with his communicator. A fight will begin soon, and Spiky wants it somewhere more private.

We go the garage. The room looks cleaned out, since Cyborgs practically moved into the bunker room.

I hang back by the elevator. Maybe I can leave first before the lovely cuffs snap back into place.

Robin goes to the worktable and gestures at some slightly crumbled papers on it. "Explain this." So Robin found the paper on how not to be a workaholic slipped into his reading stack.

"It's is pretty self-explanatory."

When Robin realizes I won't walk over to the table to see the papers, he comes over and shoves them at me.

It takes numerous times to read the title and comprehend it. The tittle is not "An Idiot's Guide to Overcoming Workaholism" with a small caption reading "don't work too hard at it."

It takes longer to push down all the dangerous fear and think straight enough to comprehend the rest of the article. Things snap into place at the photograph of the author. The photo is of Ellie's friend who goes by Jennifer B Robertson. She includes resources for the homeless and drug addicts. Jennifer wrote about what happened in the college library for what feels like a life time ago. There is no way Robin won't buy that the girl isn't me, not after all they know about Terra's abilities.

Jennifer added quotes from the police officer who noticed the earthquakes started at the same time as he captured the girl. A blurry photo shows the moment of capture. Some student made a statement about the girl being possessed. Jenifer did discredit both witnesses, and according to her, the only things really supernatural is the unfortunate luck the girl had in getting away from the help she so desperately needed.

It's kind of ironic that the help would have just put me in more danger. Being in the system means much more attention, and kids move around in the foster care system. It would have made it easier for someone to discover my curse and whisk me away with a little cover up. To top things off, I'd have to run away to release the pent up power or cause earthquakes in residential areas. Also, it becomes a lot harder to escape detection when trained professionals know to look for you in that area. Frequently running away would attract even more attention, and a kidnapping for human experiment would simply be assumed as just another runaway.

Tell people you have super abilities, and it saves the wrong people time. Say hello to the human lab rat or human weapon.

Terra ended up a human weapon, realizing it when it was too late.

Robin waits expectantly.

In reality Robin doesn't need to believe me, he just needs to believe that he needs more proof before he can catch me, and Robin won't get more proof than this article.

I try to sound confused and concerned, even though I've taken much too long to respond, "Poor girl."

Robin's glare makes it clear he neither buys it or find it entertaining. "Poor liar."

It turns it is all the proof he needs.

Robin fetches a much clearer photograph of the one in the school newspaper. There is no question as to whom the campus officer caught even with the glowing eyes.

"You can either tell the truth or you can get out. I will not have secrets tear my team apart."

I walk to elevator and return with my backpack.

— —

A/N Thank you, Althea Sirius for all your help with this and the next chapter! (:

It's a good place to end the chapter or that last sentence kind of gets glossed over. The next mini chapter gets posted at the same time so no cliff hanger.

Nocturnal: I have failed as a writer if this chapter has not cleared up if the End episode has happened yet. The story is right before the End. Honestly, the whole timeline around the End is confusing.

I don't read comics or manga, so I don't really know anything about Rose to be able to write her well. There is a place she could appear in the future, but it would be really hard for her to become a major character unless Rose takes a vow of silence.

Wow, that would have been the first thing cut from the Teen Titans. They changed Slade's name because it had "death" in it. Thank you for the review! (:


	19. Chapter 19

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Teen Titans.**

A/N This is a mini chapter that got posted with the previous chapter. Please don't mad at the short length.

Chapter 19 The Cost of Secrets: Part 2— — —

Robin cold anger gives way to shock. "You should tell the others goodbye."

I ignore him and go to the work table to display the contents of a small plastic bag. I'm really glad Beast Boy didn't notice it all those weeks ago. Newspaper clippings go to the right, and the US map goes to the left.

"The map shows earthquakes and other natural disasters cause by my sister, caused by me, and ones that could have been caused by Terra."

"This was how you tried locating her."

I nodded. The trail of destruction gave me some idea where she traveled, and I'd hope she would stick around long enough for me to get there. When I came to Jump City, the trail went cold. There were no other recent earthquakes that she may have caused.

Robin picks up a newspaper clipping. "What are these?"

"Reminders not to tamper with powers too strong to control." I give him a pointed look. Robin and the rest of the team would gladly train me to control my curse.

"You did this?" When I nod, he says, "Accidents happen."

Robin shall soon find something on how to deal with difficult emotional situations for idiots with idiots circled in red ink.

"That phrase works for small accidents not for hundreds of families' losing their home nor people sent to the hospital or worse."

Terra may have gotten lucky in this way. In our year together on the road, she caused, at worst, minor injuries. Still with her persistent hero complex, it was a matter of time until she had to live with the same guilt. I thought even if she knew it was a possibility, she would finally stop trying to use her powers, but it would come at the cost of breaking her, so I never even told her about what I had done. Considering Terra got twisted, no matter the circumstances, into someone who tried to kill her friends, things might have ended differently had I just told her the truth.

Robin doesn't know when to give it up. "Then redeem yourself by protecting people and learning-"

I cut him off. "Just don't tell anyone. They don't need to know until after the end of world crises gets averted." And if we fail, then the others never need to know.

Robin frowns, "Will your powers cause any problems before then?"

"No." Well, they probably won't. As long as the end of the world happens soon, it should work out okay.

He narrows his eyes as though he can mind read the rest of answer. "Fine, but as soon it is over, I am telling the rest of the team."

I can tell it already eats away at him that he came to insist on no more secrets, and yet ends up in the role of secret keeper. So even if he did orchestrate the Terra one, I say, "Thank you," before fleeing to my bedroom.

An hour later, Robin swings by in order to slide the cuffs back on.

— —


End file.
